European leaders launched a summer of wrangling over their union's political direction on Tuesday with a clash over nominations for Brussels' top job.
After dinner in Brussels, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel left saying she stood by her centre-right group's candidate to lead the European Commission for the next five years.
"We stand by our lead candidate, the EPP candidate, that is Manfred Weber. Others stand by their candidate, which is obvious," Merkel told reporters.
"We have responsibility towards our voters, and we will have to wait and see. It's too early to speak about this, everyone needs to show tolerance and a willingness to engage in compromise."
But President Emmanuel Macron of France said the shifting political balance in the European Parliament after last week's election had broken the "prison" of the candidacy process.
"The key is that the people in the most sensitive posts share in our project and are as charismatic, inventive and competent as possible," he said.
"Everyone will have to move, and we are going to have build a consensus. In this framework the role of France, having broken out of the prison of spitzenkandidats, is to build a dynamic and credible movement, behind a project."
Mr Weber is the choice of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), which remains the biggest bloc in the European Parliament despite losing some 40 seats in the weekend election.
But he is seen as short on charisma, has no executive experience and is opposed by Mr Macron.
As he made his entrance, Mr Macron insisted he did not want to talk about possible names for the job - before listing centre-left pick Frans Timmermans, EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager as suitable candidates while pointedly omitting Mr Weber.
'Credibility and know-how'
After the challenges of recent years - which have seen the EU weather the migrant crisis and the Brexit earthquake - Mr Macron said the bloc needed someone to lead a "renewal".
The new commission leader must fully believe in this renewal "and have the experience to achieve it," he said.
"Because these are serious responsiblities at the European level which require experience - whether in their own country or in Europe - to have credibility and know-how," Mr Macron said.
General view at the round table during a special EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, 28 May 2019. Source: EPA
The repeated references to experience and credibility will be seen as a dig at Mr Weber, who is seen as virtually unknown beyond the European Parliament where he has spent the last 15 years.
An EU source said Mr Weber could also seek the presidency of the European Parliament if he fails in his Commission bid - a consolation prize not open to Ms Vestager or Mr Timmermans.
Under EU treaty law, the European Council of 28 national leaders nominates a commission president, then the new 751-member parliament ratifies their choice.
But the procedure, while seemingly straightforward, masks a complex power struggle between rival states and ideological blocs and between the leaders and parliament itself.
Former Dutch minister Timmermans has compared the ruthless intrigue to "Game of Thrones", and in the run-up to Tuesday's dinner, party and national leaders met in smaller groups to plot their strategies.
The leaders of France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands - all liberals or socialists - met over lunch on Tuesday and a Spanish government source said an "alliance of progressive forces" was taking form.
This could also work against the conservative Weber. Udo Bullmann, the leader of the centre-left S&D parliamentary group, said Ms Merkel was becoming "kind of nervous" as control of the process slipped from her grasp.
Many in Brussels argue that the European project is best served by a "political commission" headed by a president with a mandate from the parliament.
But most national leaders think the union's legitimacy derives from its member states and that the Council should be able to pick one of their own - someone with leadership experience.
The EU elections saw the Liberal ALDE bloc and the Greens gain ground - ending the conservative EPP and centre-left S&D groups' ability to form a coalition majority without their cooperation.
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani spoke to the leaders before the dinner, telling them they must take into account the views of voters as expressed in the weekend election.
Current European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Source: AAP
Pale and stale
Momentum from the results is emboldening some liberals to push their candidate Vestager, with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel saying she would be "excellent".
As a woman, Ms Vestager would help the Commission shed its "male, pale and stale" image - there has never been a female president - and she has a certain public profile after taking on the US internet giants as a regulator.
But she comes from Denmark - a non-core EU member which opted out of the euro and the Schengen passport-free zone - and may not have her home government's backing.
Ms Vestager said it was "very, very difficult" to judge her chances of landing the job.
"If you can tell me what will happen every step from now, maybe, but everything is very opaque and very tricky," she said.
Timmermans, a centre-left Dutchman with more executive experience, will have the S&D's backing but ALDE, while dubious about the process, could back Vestager.
Another option might be Barnier, an EPP member and the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, who did not run as a candidate but has been waiting in the wings, ready to step forward.
