FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) speaks next to Manfred Weber, Chairman of the European People Party at the EPP (European Parliament Presidents) meeting in Munich, Germany June 6, 2018. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that she welcomed Manfred Weber’s bid to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as EU chief executive after EU parliamentary elections next year.

“Now we have to wait until the final nomination,” Merkel said, adding there were still many more steps before Weber could become the next president of the European commission.

Weber is a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) - the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) - and he is leader of the European People’s Party (EPP).