Juncker urged reluctant EU leaders to “stand by” the Spitzenkandidat process for nominating the next European Commission president | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images Juncker urges EU leaders to support Spitzenkandidat process The European Commission president says there is a danger of conflict between the Parliament and Commission over how to appoint his replacement.

Jean-Claude Juncker urged reluctant EU leaders to “stand by” the Spitzenkandidat process for nominating the next European Commission president in 2019.

The process, which translates as "leading candidate," awards the Commission presidency to the party winning the most seats in Parliament. It was first used in the 2014 European election and brought about Juncker's own victory. But as POLITICO reported last week, many leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron as well as the leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia, have voiced their opposition to it.

At a Parliamentary plenary debate in Strasbourg, Juncker told MEPs that he "sensed" that the European Council was reluctant to put the process formally in place for the 2019 European election and that he feared “conflict” between the Council and the Parliament.

"My sense is that there’s almost a majority against it in Council,” Juncker said. “This is a conflict between political parties … and it could lead to a conflict between this house and the European Council.”

He called the Spitzenkandidat system a “tiny piece of democratic progress."

Juncker also said he believed there was no conflict between the Spitzenkandidat and the idea promoted mainly by France to create MEPs with transnational constituencies at the next election.

MEPs are due to vote Wednesday on a proposal to reject any candidate for the European Commission presidency if he or she does not have the official backing of a party political grouping.

At a press conference in Strasbourg, Manfred Weber, the leader of the conservative European People’s Party group in the Parliament, said he was “surprised" by French President Emmanuel Macron's position on the Spitzenkandidat. “Macron, the champion of EU democracy,” Weber said, “is being surprisingly reserved on the issue.”

“If the French president wants to reinforce democracy in Europe, he must support the principle of Spitzenkandidaten," Weber said.