Jose Manuel Barroso came a step closer to being elected European Commission president for a second time when political leaders in the parliament on Thursday (10 September) agreed to hold the vote next week.
The decision, coming after weeks of delay was opposed by the Socialists and the Greens, but backed by centre-right, Liberal and eurosceptic MEPs.
The vote will take place on 16 September and Mr Barroso is expected to win the simple majority needed for a second five years at the helm.
But the Socialists, who have been fighting a rear-guard action to make sure they are not sidelined in the next European Commission since their poor showing at the June European election, urged him to look for broader political backing, including from the left.
This, they say, would ensure him a political clout-winning 369 votes, or an absolute majority in the 736-strong parliament.
Admitting that his group is “not in a very strong” negotiating position, Socialist leader Martin Schulz nevertheless called on Mr Barroso not just to rely on “anti-Europeans” to secure the vote.
“I understood Mr Barroso as saying he is trying to get a majority for himself and for his commission that is not based on votes from the Kaczynskis and the Tories,” said Mr Schulz in reference to the Polish and British parties that are the backbone of the anti-federalist European Conservatives and Reformists group.