BRUSSELS
Opposition is growing to the candidacy of Jean-Claude Juncker to become next president of the European Commission, the EU's executive branch.
But Juncker, a former long-time prime minister of Luxembourg, received support Wednesday from Martin Schulz, the current European Parliament chief and Socialist candidate for the presidency.
Schulz, a German member of the European Parliament, said he would back his center-right rival for the job.
"This is not the time for partisan politics," he said. "The election campaign is over."
Italy and France, however, have signaled opposition to Juncker's candidacy.
And the U.K. has warned of the consequences of choosing Juncker, the former eurozone group chairman. A British diplomat working in Brussels confirmed that British Prime Minister David Cameron recently told fellow EU leaders that Juncker was not the right person for the job and that, if he were picked, it would be more likely that Britons would vote to leave the EU. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity.
Cameron reportedly told fellow leaders his government would be destabilized to such an extent that the referendum on EU membership now planned for 2017 would need to take place sooner and that the country would likely vote to leave the EU.
But the U.K. official denied reports that Cameron had threatened to bring forward a referendum on Britain's EU membership if Juncker became commission president.
Sweden and Hungary have spoken openly against Juncker's candidacy, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has said Juncker has no automatic right to the post.
"Juncker is ONE name for the commission, but he is not THE name," said Renzi.
Renzi, a Social Democrat, is not part of the center-right European People's Party, which put Juncker forward as its top candidate in the recent EU elections.
Another center-left leader, French President Francois Hollande, also reportedly opposes Juncker and is reportedly trying to get the post for his former finance minister, Pierre Moscovici.
Hollande's argument is reportedly that, with the far-right National Front coming in first in the EU elections in France, a signal of support for his government is badly needed.
For Juncker to get the nomination of EU leaders for the commission job, a "qualified majority" is needed, a system in which bigger states wield more votes. If Italy and France abstain or vote no, while Britain, Sweden and Hungary vote no, Juncker would not have enough votes to win the job.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is believed to have asked France whether it would be willing to put forward International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde for the job.
A French official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Merkel, Europe's most powerful leader, made the inquiry in a private conversation with Hollande after the recent EU elections, which were characterised by widespread anti-EU protest votes.
"Merkel raised it privately with Hollande, who did not take a final position but said he did not think it would be a good idea for Europe to lose the IMF post," the official said.
For his part, Juncker remained upbeat, saying he is "optimistic about being chosen as the next commission president by mid-July."
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