EU leaders reached agreements on Thursday regarding key leadership positions during the European Council summit despite ongoing differences.
The summit, which originally should run from Thursday to Friday, ended in advance.
The leaders agreed on nominating Germany's Ursula von der Leyen for the second term as president of the European Commission. They also agreed to elect former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa as president of the European Council, while nominating Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
These leadership decisions are safe choices for EU leaders to maintain centrist forces under the current political circumstances.
Regarding the strong performance of right-wing forces in France, Germany and other countries in the recent elections, the current selections would be helpful to maintain the stability and unity of the EU.
However, the decisions on leadership roles have triggered some discontent.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni voted against Costa and Kallas while she abstained on von der Leyen's re-appointment. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban voted against von der Leyen and abstained on Kallas.
Von der Leyen's re-election is still uncertain. In the European Parliament vote expected to be held on July 18, she needs to obtain 361 votes out of 720 votes to be re-elected.
EU leaders agree on top posts despite differences
EU leaders agree on top posts despite differences
Electricity trading between Shanghai and surrounding provinces now allows for transactions involving more types of power resources, including new energy, helping to ensure a secure and stable electricity supply during the peak summer season, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA) of China on Monday.
Liu Gang, deputy director of the NEA's Market Supervision Department, explained that summertime sees a significant increase in electricity demand in the Yangtze River Delta, encompassing Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.
To more accurately regulate peak and off-peak electricity consumption, starting from Monday, the region has included new energy in its power trading platform.
"We should establish a mutual-aid mechanism for power coordination among provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, fully tapping into the resources of power generation and consumption through market-oriented approaches. Currently, there are nearly 20 million kilowatts of user-side resources available in the three provinces and one municipality. If all these resources are integrated into the inter-provincial power sharing platform, it can effectively compensate for the peak electricity demand during the summer, providing strong power security for the high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta," Liu said.
The Yangtze River Delta is one of China's most economically vibrant regions. It accounted for nearly a quarter of the country's gross domestic product in 2023, despite occupying just 4 percent of the total land area.
Electricity market transactions in Yangtze River Delta add new energy power resources
