The aftershocks of EU elections that saw a surge in support for anti-establishment parties rippled across Europe yesterday with mainstream party leaders losing their posts and a battle building over the bloc’s top job.

The struggle over the EU’s future is due to be joined today, when leaders gather for dinner in Brussels to weigh the bloc’s new leadership. At least two prime ministers, Britain’s David Cameron and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, were working to block the candidacy of veteran Brussels fixer Jean-Claude Juncker, frontrunner for the EU’s most high-profile post.

José Manuel Barroso, the outgoing European Commission president, told a European Central Bank conference in Portugal that he was “extremely concerned” by the rise in support for anti-European parties, calling the elections “the biggest stress test ever for European institutions”.