The method for filling the senior roles in the apparatus of the European Union is not an obvious advertisement for the project. National leaders go into conclave and emerge with nominees whose connection to citizens of member states feels tenuous.

The outcome inevitably represents a complex, multilateral compromise. The new European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is a German Christian Democrat who was few people’s first choice but proved less distasteful than rivals to various caucuses. The same is true of Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, who replaces Donald Tusk as president of the European council. Christine Lagarde, currently leading the IMF, will be head of the European Central Bank, and Josep Borrell, Spain’s foreign minister, is teed up for the role of high representative for foreign affairs.