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Cerar announced that he will contact Juncker over the procedures for selecting the Slovenian nominees immediately after he was confirmed as the PM-designate in parliament on Monday.

Cerar has been reserved about the nomination of Bratušek along with outgoing Foreign Minister and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) head Karl Erjavec and SocDem MEP Tanja Fajon by the outgoing government.

This is a key reason why Cerar decided not to invite the Alliance of Alenka Bratušek (ZaAB) into a coalition with his SMC party.

Cerar backed the incumbent Slovenian European Commissioner Janez Potočnik for a third term before the 13 July elections and said after his party won the elections he wanted the outgoing government to nominate him.

Potočnik confirmed for the STA on Monday he would be ready to give serious consideration to running for another term should Cerar propose him in a possible repeat of the nomination process. He did not want to be on a list with multiple candidates.

SMC vice-president and parliamentary Speaker Milan Brglez told the press today that the fact that Cerar was elected the PM-designate gives him the right to get in touch with Juncker directly and officially.

He is expected to inquire about Juncker's views on the nomination process in Slovenia.

Outgoing Defence Minister Roman Jakič, a member of the ZaAB, meanwhile said after a government session that it would be bad if Cerar's move undermined the possibility for Slovenia to secure a prominent seat in the European Commission.

He noted that Cerar has no full power yet. When the new government is appointed, Cerar "will be able to launch procedures for withdrawing or changing the decisions of the government made in the past".

Jakič said that one should be aware that Juncker picks the commissioners, adding that a potential withdrawal of the list of candidates that had been forwarded to Brussels would amount to a first in the EU.