EU summit set to confirm Juncker as commission president

EU leaders meeting in Brussels are expected to confirm former Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission, the BBC reported. 

The move comes despite strong opposition from Britain.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron believes Mr Juncker is too much in favour of closer political union and might block EU reform.

Mr Cameron is expected to seek an unprecedented vote on the appointment, which is usually made by consensus.

However, correspondents say other leaders are likely to ignore his concerns.

Mr Cameron's bid to block Mr Juncker suffered a major setback this week when his allies changed tack.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had given Mr Cameron hope after agreeing to a vote on the issue if there was no consensus.

But both the Netherlands and Sweden have since said they will back Mr Juncker.

In the past such sensitive appointments have been decided through informal negotiations in the European Council.

With Hungary now Mr Cameron's only supporter, analysts say Mr Juncker is likely to be overwhelmingly backed, even if it does go to a vote.

Mr Juncker is the choice of the centre-right European People's Party, which won the largest number of seats in the European Parliament.