Former Romanian PM Dacian Cioloș | Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images Ex-Romanian PM set to lead Liberals in European Parliament Dacian Cioloș poised for victory with backing of Macron’s Renaissance list and Spain’s Ciudadanos.

Former Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș is on track to lead the new centrist-liberal group in the European Parliament after winning the endorsement of French President Emmanuel Macron's delegation, as well as support from Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, according to an internal party document obtained by POLITICO.

Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld, who is backed by the U.K. Liberal Democrats, and Swedish MEP Fredrick Federley, who is supported by northern parties including from Denmark, are also running for the top job in the Renew Europe group. But the numbers appear to strongly favor Cioloș.

If he wins the vote, scheduled for Wednesday morning, it would catapult Cioloș into one of the most prominent positions in the new European Parliament, at a time when shrinking support for the traditional center-right European People's Party and center-left Socialists and Democrats will require pro-EU groups to form a much broader majority coalition.

Renew Europe is a joint venture of Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the leader of Spain's Ciudadanos party, Albert Rivera, and former members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, including the current group leader, Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt.

Macron, in particular, is determined to use the new group to push for a more integrated EU, especially on financial and economic issues.

Cioloș, a trained agronomist who served as Romania's prime minister from November 2015 to early January 2017, and as the EU's agriculture commissioner from 2010 to 2014, emerged as the front-runner after Nathalie Loiseau, the former French Europe minister and leader of Macron's delegation, self-destructed by antagonizing rank-and-file members during initial strategy meetings.

As it became clear in recent days that Cioloș would jump into the race and likely has Macron's backing, allegations surfaced that as prime minister he had opposed marriage equality, and a news article from 2016 was circulated suggesting that he had opposed efforts by a gay couple to have their marriage recognized in Romania.

But a closer examination of broader news coverage at that time found that Cioloș had not personally advocated against the couple. Romanian law does not recognize same-sex marriages and while Cioloș had not spoken out against the law or pushed to change it in 2016, he opposed a referendum in 2018 that would have changed the constitution to make it impossible for gay couples to obtain the right to marry in the future. The referendum failed due to low voter turnout.

"It's clear that the accusations are baseless and that's why we will not comment on this," a spokesman for Cioloș and his Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party said. The spokesman declined to answer a question about Cioloș' current position on marriage equality, saying he would answer questions posed by members of the Renew Europe group during candidate presentations on Tuesday. "These issues deserve to be clarified first in the group," the spokesman said.

In addition to support from the big French and Spanish delegations, Cioloș won the backing of Germany's Free Democratic Party as well as the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the bigger rival of in 't Veld's D66 party in the Netherlands.

A supporter of one of Ciolos' opponents complained the group is not being given enough time to examine the candidates' records. This critic said differences in social values are particularly important for the centrist liberals, and help bind members together despite the fact their views vary quite widely on economic and fiscal policy.

Spanish success

On Monday, Udo Bullmann, the German leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats for Europe (S&D), dropped out of the race to keep his post and conceded defeat to Spanish MEP Iratxe García, who is now unopposed and expected to be elected on Tuesday.

The rise of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Workers' Party to become the largest delegation in the S&D, and the crucial role of Ciudadanos in endorsing Cioloş to lead the centrist group, underscores the rising influence of Spain on the European stage, as the U.K. struggles with Brexit and Italy's new populist government finds itself in frequent tension with Brussels.

Cioloş has earned the nickname “the Romanian Macron” for his own chameleon-style shape-shifting. A former ally of EU conservatives who is now with the Liberals, Cioloş has degrees in horticultural engineering and the economics of agricultural development. He also served nearly five years as Romania’s minister of agriculture and rural development, and his wife, Valérie Villemin, is a French agriculture expert.

Anca Gurzu contributed reporting.