More time for Juncker and Spain

Juncker had been due to stand down from his post on July 17, but his renomination was agreed by his peers during almost nine hours of talks on Monday.

However, other senior figures within the eurozone suggested he remain in post for the time being, until a more permanent successor can be found.

Part of Juncker's preconditions for accepting the extension was the appointment of Luxembourg Central Bank governor Yves Mersch to the executive board of the European Central Bank.

Settling on a successor to Juncker has not been easy with apparent objections from Paris to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who has been hotly tipped for the role.

Senior members of President Francois Hollande's Socialist government have signaled unease with the appointment of Schäuble, feeling that he would be an obstacle to their calls for a greater emphasis on growth than austerity.

Spain gets first tier of bank aid

Meanwhile, the panel agreed that Spain is to be given the first installment of its banking bailout, worth 30 billion euros ($37 billion). Conditions attached to the package were to be finalized "in the second half of July," Juncker said, with the money to arrive in Madrid later in the month.

As condition of the loans laid down by the eurozone will be the reform of specific banks as well as the banking sector as a whole, the EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said.

The panel also agreed to give Spain an extra year to bring down its deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product.

"The Eurogroup supports the recently adopted Commission recommendation to extend the deadline for the correction of the excessive deficit in Spain by one year to 2014," ministers said in a statement.

Finance ministers from all 27 EU members states were expected to approve the one-year extension on Tuesday.

rc/slk (AFP, dpa, Reuters)