Merkel welcomes Weber’s bid to succeed Juncker as EU chief executive

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. She added that there were still many more steps before Weber could become the next president of the European Commission, Reuters reports. Weber is a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) – the Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU). The politician is also the leader of the European People’s Party (EPP).