From the lead candidate system to renewed European democracy
Resolution submitted by JEF Political Commission 1: Institutions and Governance. Adopted by the European Congress in Paris on 26 October 2019. Re-adopted by the Federal Committee in Budapest on 10 November 2024.
The 2019 and 2024 European elections have shown some positive signals such as a gradual increase in the overall turnout and the fact that most political parties have implemented the system of lead candidates, also known as the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’. Even though the outcome of these last European elections could be considered somewhat positive given the fact that the European Council (EUCO) has nominated one of the lead candidates for President of the European Commission, once again EUCO is the one calling the shots on the EU’s top jobs. Furthermore, we cannot forget that in 2019 the heads of state and governments of the EU completely ignored the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ system in their nomination for the Commission presidency and caused a real political deadlock which only damaged the fragile trust from the citizens that the European Institutions had gained over the previous few years. It is unacceptable that the trust of millions of European citizens remains at the mercy of their national governments. For this reason, we call for a renewal of the entire process in order to create a real supranational democracy.
JEF Europe,
- Regretting the post-European election process that led to the “EU top jobs” package in which EU Heads of State and Government in the European Council agreed on a number of European nominees based essentially on national interests and criteria;
- Concerned that the steps made so far in restoring the trust of European citizens, partially thanks to the implementation of the lead candidate system, could be undermined by the opaque manner in which the European Commission President-elect is nominated;
- Recognising the role that the lead candidate system has played in moving forward the path to a real European democracy, by strengthening the supranational element in the European elections;
- Concerned that the lead candidate system, in the state that it is in now, can still be made to serve the interests of national parties and governments, as it essentially depends on the will of the Member States;
- Reaffirming the need for a renewal of European democracy that would also include a radical reform of the lead candidate system;
- Regretting that the elections have in most countries been framed by debates on domestic issues instead of the European issues that the elected people will have a voice in;
- Concerned that the voters’ lack knowledge on which European group they are voting for, as it is unclear on most national ballots, leading to a lower awareness of the European positions being decided and a lower involvement in European issues;
- Alarmed by the lack of transparency from national and regional parties that do not announce ahead of time which EU Parliament group they will join;
- Viewing with appreciation the incredible pan-European effort made by pro- European and federalist NGOs, as well as other civil society organisations
despite the attempts of some national parties to redirect the campaign towards national issues;
- Believing that one of the roles of the EU institutions should be that of empowering European citizens and making them feel seen and heard, by fostering their participation in political processes;
- Recalling how JEF Europe has defended and promoted a pan-European approach to the elections, based on European issues and the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ process, to promote a more transparent, visible and accountable process to decide on the “EU top jobs”;
- Acknowledging that most European political parties have nominated a lead candidate for the President of the Commission under the so-called “Spitzenkandidaten system”, each time since the 2014 European elections;
- Noting that for a lead candidate to be elected as President of the Commission requires them to find a majority in both the European Council (in the nomination phase) and in the European Parliament (in the election phase);
- Regretting that the European Council currently has more influence than the European Parliament in the process of selecting the President of the Commission, even though citizens express their wishes for the next leaders of the European Union via their votes for the European Parliament, therefore disregarding the popular will of the voters in favour of an intergovernmental framework;
- Concerned that the current system has allowed political parties, heads of State and Government, and the wider EU public sphere to interpret it as national polls, some of them using their interpretation to push forward narrow national or party interests;
- Acknowledging that the lead candidate system alone cannot function as the helm of a supranational European democracy, as it was created as a tool within the current intergovernmental system and it reflects all the limitations and contradictions of such a system;
- Convinced that, in order to concretely open and complete the path towards a real European democracy, the federal renewal of all EU institutions and the European election process is needed;
JEF Europe therefore,
1. Calls for a transparent post-election process that would elect the most important EU positions, including the new EU Commissioners, instead of the current “EU top jobs” package that occurs behind closed doors, with the aim of democratising the entire process as soon as possible;
2. Believes that the European Parliament and its MEPs should lead the way for the renewal of European democracy, as they are accountable to European voters;
3. Calls for the political parties at the European level (europarties) to become genuine pan-European parties. This process should be aiming to foster a European political conscience among European voters and a Europe-wide constituency. In particular, europarties should, before the next European elections:
- Go beyond the simple grouping or affiliation of national or regional parties and become full-fledged European level political parties by ensuring consistency in ideology, values (in line with the values of the European Union), and in their European political programmes on transnational issues;
- Commit to more transparency on the EU level, especially in regards to their plans for the future European Commission;
- Encourage a transnational public debate on European issues as opposed to simply domestic ones and, therefore, have a clear vision, agenda and programme in time for the electoral campaign;
- Continue to improve the lead candidate system within the necessary time frame of the electoral campaign, thus enabling the lead candidates to participate in an EU-wide campaign throughout all member states in order to gain sufficient public outreach and be democratically legitimate;
- Promote themselves by working with national and regional parties and their MEPs (not just in their respective member states) in order to make them more known to the European citizens, especially in their function of serving beyond their constituencies;
- Organise visible, inclusive party primaries to elect their lead candidates well in advance of the European elections;
4. Calls for the harmonisation of national legislation on European elections, and on ensuring that citizens can still participate in the European elections if they live outside the EU;
5. Believes that a reformed ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ system should aim at establishing a supranational democratic system in which a negotiated majority in the European Parliament based on a political agreement has the prerogative to propose to the Council a nominee for President of the European Commission;
6. Believes that a reformed ‘Spitzenkandidaten” system should be complemented by EU-wide lists (the so-called ‘transnational lists’) and thus calls for the introduction of transnational lists for the next European elections in 2029;
7. Considers that constituencies for European elections should not be limited by national borders, and that regional, cross-border constituencies could help create a parliamentary system less bound by national interests;
8. Believes that the European Commission, and the future federal European Government, must – as it is entrusted with executive power – be fully democratically accountable to the European Parliament, especially in the following ways:
- Each EU Commissioner or member of the European government must hold the confidence of the European Parliament in order to hold office and a vote of no confidence against an individual Commissioner or government member will remove them from office;
- European Commission must operate in a way that decisions and actions are transparent and ensure proper oversight by the European Parliament;
- Each EU Commissioner or member of the European Parliament must answer to the European Parliament when summoned, reinforcing the democratic principle that those who held the executive power must answer to the organs directly elected by the citizens;
9. Calls on the main European parliamentary groups and political parties to follow through on their commitments towards treaty reform, as expressed in their manifestos for the 2024 European Elections, to shift from the current intergovernmental method in order to provide the European Union with the capacity and sovereignty to act in response to current challenges (especially in cases of disagreement between national governments or in breaches of European law by Member States);
10. Considers that the Treaty revision process should be accompanied by the strong involvement of European citizens and thus urges the European Parliament to launch the process for the establishment of a European Constituent Assembly during this mandate.