The key decisions from the EU Council yesterday

President of the EU Council - Charles Michel - replacing Donald Tusk

One of the above appointments is secure. The caretaker Prime Minister of Belgium and Macron ally, Charles Michel, will become President of the EU Council, in place of Poland’s Donald Tusk.

Monsieur Michel’s Belgian government collapsed in December and he is presiding over a caretaker administration. With Belgium split in two (French and Flemish speaking), Charles Michel comes from the francophone part and is likely to be a key ally of President Macron in EU Council meetings.

President of the EU Commission - Ursula von der Leyen – replacing Jean-Claude Juncker

The EU Council of 28 leaders has selected a surprise outsider to replace Herr Juncker as EU Commission President. Her appointment is subject to a simple majority vote in the EU Parliament, where she will face stiff opposition. If she is rejected, the Council has one month to come up with a different nomination.

Ms von der Leyen is currently embroiled in a Bundestag investigation into misspending and mismanagement during her current role as German Defence Minister.

A loyal Merkel acolyte, she has presided for five years over what is seen by many in Berlin as a catastrophic state of affairs, with 70% of its Eurofighter force unable to fly, troops lacking basic equipment for NATO exercises, and an overall lack of confidence that Germany could muster anything like a useful force in the event of need. German defence spending is one-third less than the NATO minimum, yet Ms von der Leyen is a strong advocate of an EU military.

The new Commission President - if ratified by the EU Parliament - comes from the EU nest, having been born in Brussels while her father was an EU bureaucrat there. She has declared herself to be fervently in favour of a ‘United States of Europe’ and last year advocated the formation of a full, EU army.

EU Foreign & Defence Secretary, and VP of the Commission – Josep Borell – replacing Federica Mogherini

Technically Senor Borell’s title will be ‘High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Union’. In political terms we consider this to be the second-most important job in the Brussels hierarchy. He has been appointed by the EU Council, subject only to approval by the new EU Commission President, notionally Ursula von der Leyen.

Senor Borell is currently Spain’s Foreign Minister and comes from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). An arch-Europhile he is a Director of the Jacques Delors Institute, he is firmly against the moves for more Catalan independence, and he has pronounced on the issue of Gibraltar becoming part of Spain.

In November last year Senor Borell was fined for insider trading by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) in Spain. It related to his sale of shares in an energy company while he was a board member. It was published in Spain's official state bulletin.

“We impose on Mr. José Borrell Fontelles, for the commission of a very serious violation of article 282.6 of the Securities Market Law in the sale, on behalf of a third party, of 10,000 shares of Abengoa, SA … having privileged information on this company.”

President of the European Central Bank – Christine Lagarde – replacing Mario Draghi

Christine Lagarde is infamous in the UK as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after her interventions for Remain in the UK’s EU Referendum campaign.

Six months later she was found guilty of criminal charges linked to the misuse of public funds by France’s ‘Cour de Justice de la République’. For what can only be seen as political reasons, she was not sent to prison and nor did she receive a fine. For what may be similar reasons, she was not fired by the Board of the IMF.