Friday 27 June 2014 16.39 EU leaders nominated former Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission at a summit today despite strong objections from Britain.
British Prime Minister David Cameron had mounted a vehement campaign to deny Mr Juncker the job on the grounds that the 59-year-old was a federalist committed to expanding the Union's powers.
Mr Cameron has said the fact that EU leaders did not work together to find an alternative candidate is a serious mistake.
The confirmation of his nomination was announced by European Council president Herman Van Rompuy on Twitter.
"Decision made," he wrote. "The European Council proposes Jean-Claude Juncker as the next President of the European Commission."
He did not say whether there had been a formal vote among the 28 national leaders - an unprecedented procedure that Mr Cameron had threatened to demand to underline his opposition.
However, a British official said leaders voted 26-2 in favour of Mr Junker, with Mr Cameron and Hungary's Viktor Orbán voting against
Mr Juncker must now appear before the European Parliament and win a confirmation vote set for July 16 on his policy agenda.
Mr Juncker has been a skilled fixer and bridge-builder at the heart of Europe's monetary union for 25 years.
The only leader still active to have been at the table at the 1991 Maastricht summit that laid the foundations of the euro, he faces a daunting challenge to restore public confidence in European integration and hold the EU together.
He was prime minister of Luxembourg for 19 years until he was defeated last year after an espionage scandal shook his government, and was in the thick of the battle to save the eurozone from a debt crisis that threatened to engulf it in 2010-13.
Mr Juncker chaired eurozone finance ministers' meetings that agreed on financial bailouts for five member states, tightened budget discipline rules and shaped austerity policies that sparked apolitical backlash against the EU in several countries.
The trained lawyer who became finance minister aged 34 now faces a far bigger challenge to revitalise the bloc's most influential institution, with more than 20,000 staff, and drive political and economic reforms on which the 28 member states have very different demands.
People who have worked closely with Mr Juncker question how this sometimes irritable man will cope with the management challenge of running a large bureaucracy and a big personal staff, and whether he has the stamina for the constant travel and speech-making imposed by the role currently held by Jose Manuel Barroso, a former prime minister of Portugal.
Earlier, the Minister for European Affairs said the Government believes the election of Mr Junker as commission president will see a commission that will focus more on jobs and stability.
Paschal Donohoe told RTÉ's News at One that Ireland's priority is to do all necessary to deliver job stability and growth.
He said the Government believes Mr Juncker's election will help build on the progress that is currently being seen in Ireland.
He said the European Commission can play a key role in completing the single market by making it easier for investment to to take place that would create jobs.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has completed a political and trade accord with the EU, underlying the shift that has taken place in the country which has also resulted in an armed insurrection in the east.
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