I'm sloppy.

Juncker's SOTEU proposed a NEW! permanent EU president office. This is not ostensibly an extension of Council or EC. But it won't be subject to EU-wide plenary election either... yet.

the idea of combining the Commission and Council presidencies?

The possibility that the Council would vote to eliminate that role seemed far-fetched, and several EU officials and diplomats suggested Juncker was playing to his audience in the European Parliament, where federalist sentiment is strong. [...] In his speech, Juncker said: "Europe would be easier to understand if one captain was steering the ship." It was part of a broader push for increasing the role of electoral politics in filling EU offices, including, potentially, the adoption of a new system of transnational party lists in the parliamentary elections.

I can't say which of the other heads in the totem encouraged Juncker to float the idea. But euractiv immediately began helping to survey initial, dismissive responses by career politicians to "another layer of complication".

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.