The Role of Political Parties At

THE ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES AT EUROPEAN LEVEL ON THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES The role of political parties at European Level on the democratic deficit of the European Union in the aftermath of the 2019 European Parliament elections.

Word count: 38421

Hanne Bauters Student number: 01504141

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Erwan Lannon Co-supervisor: Jolien Timmermans

A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Law

Academic year: 2019 – 2020

Acknowledgments

It took me a lot of time, energy and a lot of cups of coffee to finally be at this point, writing the acknowledgments. This master thesis is made as a completion of my master education at Ghent University. I am about to finish five interesting years.

Several persons have contributed academically, practically and with support to this master thesis. First, I wish to thank my promoter, Prof. Dr. Erwan Lannon, for the opportunity to work on this interesting and challenging study about the role of political parties at European level on the democratic deficit of the European Union. I am grateful that Prof. Dr. Erwan Lannon made time to meet up with me, it was an honour to work under his guidance. Besides, I also have to be grateful that I could write my master thesis in English. It has been a struggle, but it really improved my English skills.

Secondly, I wish to thank my co-supervisor, Jolien Timmermans for her justified remarks on the preliminary version of my master thesis, especially regarding the democratic deficit. Furthermore, I wish to thank my parents and my sister for their immense and unquestionable support throughout the entire process of writing this master thesis.

List of Abbreviations

AFCO Committee on Constitutional Affairs ALDE Alliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party EC European Community ECC European Economic Community ECR European Conservatives and Reformists Party ECSC European Community for Steal and Coal EFA European Free Alliance EFGP European Federation of Green Parties EGP European Green Party ELDR European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party EPP European People’s Party EU European Union MEP Member of the European Parliament PES Party of European Socialists TEU Treaty on European Union

Table of Contest Acknowledgments ...... 3 List of Abbreviations ...... 4 Table of Contest ...... 5 Introduction ...... 8 Chapter I: Political Parties at European Level ...... 10 1. The History of Political Parties at European Level...... 10 1.1 The Evolution of Party Politics at European Level Since 1951...... 10 1.2. The Long Path Towards Direct Elections of the European Parliament...... 12 1.3. The Evolution of the Political Parties at European level Since the Maastricht Treaty ...... 16 2. The Internal Organisation and Financing of Political Parties at European Level ...... 23 2.1. The Internal Organisation of Political Parties at European Level ...... 24 2.2. The Financing of Political Parties at European Level ...... 24 2.3. The European Political Foundations ...... 26 3. Conclusion ...... 28 Chapter II: The Democratic Deficit of the European Union ...... 29 1. The institutional deficit ...... 30 2. The Social Deficit ...... 33 3. Conclusion ...... 34 Chapter III: What can be done by the Political Parties at European Level? ...... 35 1. The Spitzenkandidat Procedure ...... 39 1.1. The evolution of the appointment mechanisms for the Presidency of the European Commission and an overview of the former Presidents of the European Commission...... 41 1.2. The Nomination of the President of the Commission since the Lisbon Treaty ...... 44 1.3. The Spitzenkandidat Procedure in the 2019 European Parliament Elections ...... 47 1.4. The Candidates Selection by the European Political Parties at European level for the 2019 European Parliament Elections ...... 49 1.5. The Appearances of the Spitzenkandidaten in the 2019 Electoral Campaign...... 59 1.6. The Election of Ursula von der Leyen and the Fall of the Spitzenkandidat Procedure ...... 65 1.7. Conclusion and Discussion ...... 68 2. Transnational lists ...... 69 2.1 What are Transnational Lists? ...... 69 2.2. Debate on the transnational lists 2018 ...... 72 2.3. Can transnational lists possibly be an answer to the democratic deficit of the European Union? 74 2.4. Conclusion ...... 77 Chapter IV: Further recommendations ...... 78 1. Recommendations Regarding the Spitzenkandidat Procedure ...... 79

1.1. The Nomination of the Leading Candidates ...... 79 1.2. Increased Visibility of the Leading Candidate ...... 81 2. Developing Individual Membership ...... 81 2.1 Political Parties at European Level and Individual Membership ...... 82 2.2. Individual membership as the link between European institutions and European Citizens.... 84 2.3. Conclusion ...... 86 Conclusion ...... 86 Bibliography...... 88

Figure 1 Source: The Economist Newspaper

Introduction

Today’ s nature of European Union displays a fascinating, but at the same time highly demanding research object. While the European’s integration proceeds constantly and more rights are transferred to the supranational level, the European Union is criticized for lagging as regards to the development and expansion of democratic values and principles. The multifaced democratic flaws of the European Union are a highly discussed topic among many scholars and add up to the larger debate on the democratic deficit of the European Union.

One possible answer to the democratic deficit lies in the role of political parties at European level. Since classical antiquity, political participation is universally acknowledged as the core element of democracy. Modern democracy, SCHATTSCHNEIDER asserted, is unthinkable in terms of political parties. 1 Political parties are widely seen to be a sine qua non for the organization of modern democracy.

Given the importance attributed to political parties in a modern democracy, one would easily think political parties at European level are vibrant, coherent and of interest. But, in reality, the opposite occurs. Political parties at European level are perceived to be incapable of performing those functions which are of vital interest to the healthy functioning of a democracy. Political parties at European level should connect the policy preferences of the electors to the European institutions. Still, this linkage seemed to be lost at the level of the European Union.

However, in 2014, with the introduction of the Spitzenkandidat procedure, political parties at European level demonstrated their potential. They became key players in the choice of the European Commission’s president and in shaping his/her programme. This initial success of the procedure sparks a further investigation of the potential of the political parties at European level.

Through this master thesis, there will be taken a look at the political parties at European Union as they function as channels through which citizens of the European Union can express their opinion. It will be examined whether or not political parties at the European level can contribute to reducing the democratic deficit of the European Union. The research includes an analysis of the history and the current legal framework of political parties at the European level and will point out the main characteristics of the

1 E.E. SCHATTSCHNEIDER, Party Government, New York, 1942,1.

democratic deficit. It will analyse how effective political parties at European Level have been and what kind of changes will be necessary for the future. The research will be conducted in the aftermath of the elections of the European Union of 2019.

With a view to the structure of this study, this master thesis is subdivided into 3 major chapters. CHAPTER I develops a theoretical framework to understand the origin and the evolution of political parties at European level. It provides an overview of the history and the current legal framework of political parties at European level. To analyse the role of political parties at European level on the democratic deficit, CHAPTER II points out the main characteristics of the democratic deficit. CHAPTER III analyses how political parties at European level can address the democratic deficit.

The central research question is: How can political parties at European level contribute to reducing the democratic deficit of the European Union? ( An analysis in the aftermath of the European Elections of 2019) The central research question can be divided into different subquestions: What are political parties at European level? (CHAPTER I), What are the main characteristics of the democratic deficit? (CHAPTER II), Are political parties at European level able to enhance democracy of the European Union? (CHAPTER III)

Since the inception of political parties at European level, parties received different labels, some with a special connotation. By the creation of the first three-party formations, the term ‘federation’ had been used. It was considered useful to express the possible future, rather than their current state.2 Also, political parties at European level are sometimes called ‘Pan-European parties’, emphasizing the supranational aspect of the parties. But more recently, political parties at European level are also named Europarties and European political parties as derived from political parties organised at European level.3 For this master thesis, the term political parties at European level will be used.

2 S. VAN HECKE, Reconnecting Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018,13. 3 S. VAN HECKE, Reconnecting Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 13.

Chapter I: Political Parties at European Level

1. The History of Political Parties at European Level

In the process of European integration, party political integration began to bear relevance in the 1970s. It changed the environment of national political parties as the European Community attained a more extensive political nature. A lot of decision-making power transferred to the transnational level and new organizational forms were created by the EU integration process. Therefore, national political found it useful, when member states leaders had decided to hold direct elections of the European Parliament, to develop transnational processes. This resulted in the establishment of the first political parties at European level.4 The following paragraphs give an overview of the European party political integration between 1950 and 1979, with special attention to the process towards the first direct elections of the European Parliament.

1.1 The Evolution of Party Politics at European Level Since 1951.

The process of European integration traces its roots back to the 1950s. In 1951, as a reaction to the previous failure of broader international organizations to create common bonds between the countries of Europe, the European Community of Coal and Steel had been established. The treaty was signed on 18 April 1951 by the Benelux- Countries, French, Germany and Italy and aimed to contribute to the economic expansion, growth of employment and a rising standard of living in the Member States.5

Article 7 of the Treaty the Community brought into being the Common Assembly, together with three other institutions.6 The Common Assembly emerges as the organ responsible for exercising supervisory powers which it derives from the Treaty.7 Article 21 defines article 20, stating the Common Assembly consisted out of delegates appointed out of the Member States’ national parliaments. Put in practice, the national parliaments appointed the representatives according to a procedure determined by each Member State. Each political tendencies should be proportionately represented.8 Members of the Common Assembly held a dual mandate, a practice which was maintained until the first direct elections of the European Parliament.9

4 S. HIX and C. LORD, Political parties at the European Union, London, 1997, 2-3. 5 Treaty establishing the European Community of Coal and Steel. 6 The other 3 institutions were the High Authority, Council of Ministers and a High Court. 7 Article 20 Treaty establishing the European Community of Coal and Steel. 8 G. VAN OUDENHOVE, The political parties in the European Parliament, Leyden, 1965, 12. 9 European Parliamentary Research Service, Impact of the ECSC Common Assembly on the politics, negotiation and content of the Rome Treaties, , 2017, 3, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2017/563518/EPRS_BRI(2017)563518_EN.pdf.

On 10 September 1952, the Common Assembly held its first constitutive session. One of the Common Assembly’s first tasks was to define its rules of procedure. Those self-given procedure rules allowed the institutionalisation of political groups, even though this was not foreseen by the ECSC- treaty.10 At the ordinary session of May-June 1953, three political groups were official authorised: The Socialist Group, The Christian Democratic Group and the Group of the Liberals.11

Given the statu nascendi of the political groups in the Common Assembly between 1952 and 1953, the delegates spoke mainly in an individual capacity. Nonetheless, it was no exception political opinions became clear through the statements held in the Assembly. Even more, national political parties did not hesitate to appoint a spokesman to state its case.12 Noteworthy, the Common Assembly rejected any form of a national organisation considering it incompatible with the supranational status.13 Hence, the early days of the Common Assembly were featured by members speaking from an individual standpoint and the absence of political parties at European level.

During the January 1954 session a spokesman, Mr Mollet, expressed clearly for the first time a party viewpoint in public. By the May 1954 session, all three groups had appointed spokesmen to expound their standpoints. Henceforth, spokesmen expressing a collective viewpoint became an all-round practice. Political differences were more and more to be exposed, and the first outlines of party politics at European level became discernible, while national motives were put at the background.14 Notwithstanding the Common Assembly only existed for five years, it attained a noteworthy political process.

By the Treaty of Rome of 25 March 1957, a new enlarged Assembly was established. In its early years, the European Parliament remained rather unsuccessful.15 With 142 members, the Assembly met for the first time on 19 March 1958 as the “European Parliamentary Assembly“, changing its name into European Parliament on 30 March 1962. Already in 1954, the Common Assembly urged implementation of direct elections, an idea readopted by Article 138 of the Rome treaty.16 Article 138 imposed the European Parliamentary

10 G. VAN OUDENHOVE, The political parties in the European Parliament, Leyden, 1965, 21. 11 European Parliamentary Research Service, Impact of the ECSC Common Assembly on the politics, negotiation and content of the Rome Treaties, 2017, 3, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2017/563518/EPRS_BRI(2017)563518_EN.pdf. 12 G. VAN OUDENHOVE, The political parties in the European Parliament, Leyden, 1965,45. 13 Ibid., 47. 14 Ibid., 48-50. 15 A. KREPPEL, The European Parliament and the Supranational Party System, Cambridge 2002. 16 D.M. VIOLA, Routledge handbook of European elections, London, Routledge, 2016,4.

Assembly to formulate a uniform plan for direct elections. After the article had been adopted, a Committee on political affairs and institutional matters was installed.17

Much hope was cherished towards political parties as potential ‘carries’ of European Integration. Even more, it was predicted party politicians could be a supplementary source of new initiatives to the European Commission. Over a longer period, it was hoped party politicians would be capable of settling comprehensive programmes at the European Level and even offer an alternative to the leadership of the Community’s institutions. But the reality was different. Contrary to the predictions, party groups were not able to flourish as sites for learning and socialisation, neither did they had a good liaison with the national parties. Hence, the evolution of political parties at European level remained rather stagnant from the end of the Common Assembly until the first direct elections of the European Parliament.18

1.2. The Long Path Towards Direct Elections of the European Parliament.

Moving towards direct elections of the European Parliament appeared to be a long-process work. It was until May 1960 a convention on the introduction of direct elections was adopted, The Dehousse-Report.19 The Draft Convention addressed five main problems: the electoral procedure, links with national parliaments, provisions concerning incompatibility, number of MEPs and transitional arrangements. The report stated clearly that direct elections are vital in the process towards a unification of the European Union, but clarified that uniform is no synonym to identical.20 The view was taken by The Dehousse-Report, that when a minimum of common principles was present in the Report one could speak of a ‘uniform procedure’ in the sense of Article 18 (3) ECC Treaty.21 The report linked direct elections and the powers of the Assembly. They considered direct elections as an incidental increase of the Assembly’s powers and proposed an Assembly of 426 members elected by universal suffrage for a term of five years. The Council will eventually ignore this proposal just like the following one in 1963.

In 1969 the Heads of the Governments put the item back of direct elections to the European Parliament on the agenda. In the Hague Summit Final Communiqué, they promised the problem of the method of direct

17 Article 138 Treaty establishing the European Economic Community. 18 S. HIX and C. LORD, Political parties at the European Union, London, 1997, 35.. 19 D.M. VIOLA, Routledge handbook of European elections, London, Routledge, 2016, 4. 20 Ibid., 4. 21 R. BIEBER, D.A. BREW, J. GEORGEL and C.SASSE, The European parliament : towards a uniform procedure for direct elections, Florence, 1981,11.

elections would be studied by the Council of Ministers. 22 The Hague Conference led to the establishment of a working group, chaired by Vedel. Vedel laid down his report in 1972. This report expressed, once again, that the Member States do not interpret uniform direct elections as immediate and homogeneous standardization of electoral systems. The Working Party believed that uniform direct elections could be interpreted as meaning that the members of the European Parliament could be elected by direct universal suffrage under the electoral system applied in each country.23 In 1973 Schelto Patijn was appointed as rapporteur24with the special task to revise the draft convention of 1960 and drawing a new report on direct elections of the European Parliament.25 By 1974 the European Parliament presented a new proposal. The report contained two parts. The first part dealt with the reform itself. The second part summarised the political debates since 1960 and the possible difficulties for the project. This newest report appeared to be less ambitious and more realistic than the Dehousse- Report. On 14 January 1975, the European Parliament adopted the report as a resolution. The adopted resolution had been sent to the Council, which only was able to approve the resolution after several new resolutions were adopted. A working group was set up by the Council to deal with the question of direct elections.26 The European Council finally approved the Act on 20 September 1976.27 Article 7 (1) of the Electoral Act states the Assembly shall draw up a proposal for a uniform election procedure. No time limit was drawn up to Council to act upon such a proposal. Hence, until a uniform procedure enters into force, elections of the European Parliament would be governed in each Member State by its national provisions.28 Although the Act only consisted of 16 articles, it was a departure point for further reforms. Due to the delay in the ratification process, the first direct elections of the European Parliament took place three years later, June 1979.29

The first political party at European level was established in 1974, the Confederation of Socialist Parties of the European Community. The Confederation of Socialist Parties of the European Community was followed by the Federation of Liberal and Democratic Parties of the European Community and the European People’s

22 Final Communiqué of the Hague Summit, 1969, 2, https://www.cvce.eu/obj/final_communique_of_the_hague_summit_2_december_1969-en-33078789-8030-49c8- b4e0-15d053834507.html. 23 Report of the Working Party examining the problem of the extension of the powers of the European Parliament of 25 March 1972, 38, https://www.cvce.eu/obj/vedel_report_25_march_1972-en-a4f5b134-99b9-41b3- 9715-41769dfea12a.html. 24 D.M. VIOLA, Routledge handbook of European elections, London, Routledge, 2016,5. 25 R. BIEBER, D.A. BREW, J. GEORGEL and C. SASSE, The European parliament : towards a uniform procedure for direct elections, Florence, 1981,13. 26 Ibid., 15. 27 European Parliamentary Research Service, The history of European electoral reform and the Electoral Act 1976, 2016, 20 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/563516/EPRS_STU(2016)563516_EN.pdf.. 28 Article 7, Act concerning the election of the representatives of the Assembly by direct universal suffrage. 29 D.M. VIOLA, Routledge handbook of European elections, London, Routledge, 2016,5.

Party, both established in 1976.30 It is important to bear in mind electoral campaigns were fought by the national parties. The Confederation of Socialist Parties, the Federation of Liberal and Democratic Parties and the European People’s Party were supposed to coordinate the European elections campaigns and to adopt a common electoral program.31 It was hoped political parties at European level would support, influence and control the European Parliamentary Groups as extra-parliamentary arms. 32

Before the elections of 1979, it was believed a high turn-out would bestow both the European Parliament as the Community democratic legitimacy, a thought which led to concreted attempts to mobilise voters. The Commission organised a single, non-partisan campaign aiming to raise voter turnout and awareness about the elections. 33 Unfortunately, the first direct elections of the European Parliament were dissatisfying. Voter turnout, which varied notably from country to country, was much lower than expected. The electorate took little interest, and on an average, only 62% went voting, despite the media attention the event covered. 34 Electoral campaigns focused mostly on national affairs and interest of journalist for EC affairs was lacking.35 REIF and SCHMITT concluded that as long as the national political parties ran the show, the elections of the European Parliament were second-order national elections.36 Political parties at European level appeared too weak and not well enough organised to fulfil their role as outlined above.

In June 1984, the second direct elections of the European Parliament took place. Nonetheless, enthusiasm for the European Project was growing, the results of the elections were again disappointing.37 Turn-out declined further to 59%, electoral campaigns focused on national issues and more in general direct elections of the European Parliament did not have the expected impact on the European integration.38

30 G. PRIDHAM and P. PRIDHAM, Transnational party co-operation and European integration : the process towards direct elections, London, 1981,104. 31 F. SOZZI, National Parties, Political Processes and the EU democratic deficit: The problem of Europarties Institutionalization, EUI Working Paper, RSCAS, 2013/04, 18. 32 G. PRIDHAM and P. PRIDHAM, Transnational party co-operation and European integration : the process towards direct elections, London, 1981, 114. 33 J. SMITH, Citizen’s Europe? The European Elections and the Role of the European Parliament, London, Royale Institute of International Affairs, 1994, 9. 34 European Parliamentary Research Service, Historiography of the European Parliament, Changing perceptions of the institution from the 1950s to today, 2018, 14. 35 European Parliamentary Research Service, The history of European electoral reform and the Electoral Act 1976, 2016, 31. 36 K.-H. REIF and H. SCHMITT, Nine Second Order National Elections: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of European Election Results, European Journal of Political Research, 8/1, 1980, 8-15. 37 European Parliament, The history of European electoral reform and the Electoral Act 1976, European Parliamentary Research Service, 2016,16-17. 38 European Parliamentary Research Service, The history of European electoral reform and the Electoral Act 1976, 2016,31.

However, the direct elections of the European Parliament had a significant impact on the European Parliament and stimulated the development of the political parties at European level. The European Parliament gained increased independence on three levels. The European Parliament enhanced its claim to be a supranational institution by cutting the tie with the national parliaments. But also, the European Parliament became more independent towards the Commission. By its new granted democratic legitimacy, the European Parliament was able to develop a more stable connection to the Commission. The direct elections enabled the European Parliament to define its role and status. It also clarified that the European Parliament represents citizens of the European Union and no longer the Member States.39 Despite the Members of the European Parliament consisted out of national parliamentarians, an inter-parliamentary vision of the European Parliament developed. Also, the view of the Court of Justice on the institutions of the European Union has changed. In Roquette Frères v Council40 the Council had asked the European Parliament for its opinion but adopted the measure before the European Parliament gave its opinion. The Court of Justice ruled it to be an infringement of an essential procedural requirement.41 The Court of Justice emphasised the European Parliament does play a role in the legislative process and therefore represents a fundamental factor in the institutional balance as mentioned by the Treaty. Even more, the Court of Justice regarded the European Parliament as an expression of the democratic principle according to which peoples should take part in the exercise of power through the intermediary of a representative assembly.42 This approach empowered the European Parliament without a formal change of the competences of the European Parliament.43

The powers of the European Parliament extended even more since the Single European Act, signed in 1986 and entered into force in 1987. The European Parliament was formally called for the first time Parliament and procedure of cooperation with the Council was introduced.44 Through the new cooperation process, the European Parliament turned into a genuine co-legislator with real legislative powers.45

39 D.M. VIOLA, Routledge handbook of European elections, London, Routledge, 2016, 30. 40 European Court of Justice, Judgement of 29 October 1980, SA Roquette Frères v Council of the European Communities, case 138/79, ECLI:EU:C:1980:249. 41 E.BERRY, M.J. HOMEWOOD and B. BOGUSZ, Complete EU law : text, cases, and materials, Oxford, 2015, 282. 42 European Court of Justice, Judgement of 29 October 1980, SA Roquette Frères v Council of the European Communities, case 138/79, ECLI:EU:C:1980:249 43 European Parliamentary Research Service, The history of European electoral reform and the Electoral Act 1976, 2016, 33. 44 P. FONTAINE, H.-G. PÖTTERING and J. DAUL, Reis naar het hart van Europa 1953 - 2009 : de geschiedenis van de Christen-Democratische fractie en de Europese Volkspartij in het Europees Parlement, Lannoo, 2010, 254. 45 P. FONTAINE, H.-G. PÖTTERING and J. DAUL, Reis naar het hart van Europa 1953 - 2009 : de geschiedenis van de Christen-Democratische fractie en de Europese Volkspartij in het Europees Parlement, Lannoo, 2010, 254.

Nevertheless, the intensification of the European Parliament appeared to be insufficient. 46 It did little to remove the national foundations of party politics. National parties continued the ability to monopolise the mass political arena. They remained key influencers in shaping the political culture of each Member State.47 Consequently, voter turnout in the third election of the European Parliament in 1989 declined further to 58%. 48

1.3. The Evolution of the Political Parties at European level Since the Maastricht Treaty

Only six years after the implementation of the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty entered into force. Article 138(A)49 of the Maastricht Treaty stipulated ”Political parties at European level are important as a factor for integration within the Union. They contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union.“ This article finally recognised the importance of the political parties organised at European Level and it introduced a legal reference to political at European level. The article has been the result of a Summit held by the presidents of the EPP, PES and ELDR.50 According to HIX and LORD, this article was a clear indication of the political parties at European Level attempting to alter the institutional environment for their ends.51 It affirmed the further development of political parties at European Level when the further unification and a transnational system of government of the European Union were to be successive. They were tasked with advancing the integration, expressing the will of the citizens and building a European consciousness.52

And yet, Article 138 of the Maastricht Treaty could not be considered to be a sufficient basis to regulate the statute and funding of political parties at European level. The article appeared to be a declaration principle whereas no definition and procedure for funding were foreseen.53 There was only the principle, which made the article ‘an incomplete contract’.54

46 H. SIMON and C.LORD, The Political parties at European Level, London, Oxford, 1997,14. 47 H. SIMON and C.LORD, The Political parties at Europan Level, London, Oxford, 1997,15-16. 48 DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATION, Review European and national elections figured out, 2014, 48. 49 Article 138(A) Maastricht Treaty was renumbered to article 191 in the Treaty of Amsterdam and the following treaties. 50 K.M. JOHANSSON and T. RAUNIO, Regulating Europarties: Cross-Party Regulations Capitalizing on Incomplete Contract, Party Politics, Volume 11, no.5, 522. 51 H. SIMON and C. LORD, The Political parties at European Level, London, Oxford, 1997,190. 52 T. JANSEN, The European People's Party, UK, Palgarave Macmillan, 1998,194. 53 F. SAITTO, European Political Parties and European Public Space from the Maastricht Treaty to the Regulation No.1141/2014, Econstor, Discussion Paper 2/17, 2017, 9. 54K.M. JOHANSSON and T. RAUNIO, Regulating Europarties: Cross-Party Regulations Capitalizing on Incomplete Contract, Party Politics, Volume 11, no.5, 522..

In November 1992 and respectively December 1993, the names of the Socialist and Liberal party organisations were changed to include Party and in June 1993 a new Green political party was established. So, at that moment four political parties were established: the European People’s Party, The Party of European Socialist, The European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party and the European Federation of Green Parties.55 Each of these parties strengthened their link with the party groups in the European Parliament as with their representatives in the Commission, Council and European Council. Furthermore, these new organisations began to develop as extra-parliamentary party organisations.56 In 1998, the Democratic Party for Peoples – European Free Alliance, a regionalist party, appeared on the political scene. In 1996, the Committee of Institutional affairs suggested the regulation of political parties at European level. The Committee expressed it was necessary: ”to strengthen the instruments for democratic participation by citizens in the determination of Union policy“ and that ”without a functioning party system, a strong and robust democracy in which the citizen participates actively is inconceivable”. 57 Political parties, therefore, needed a legal status and a framework regulation. The stimulus to the amendment came from the European Court of Auditors, which found the then-existing financing of political parties at European Level from the budgets of the political group, inadmissible.58 A second paragraph to article 191 had been added: ”the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Art. 251, shall lay down the regulations governing political parties at European level and in particular the rules regarding their funding“.59 So, Article 191 was supplemented by a legal basis which allows the adoption, via the co-decision procedure, of a statue of political parties at European level and rules concerning their funding.

Even though the first initiative to regulate political parties at European Level was taken in 1996 by the PES Group member Tsatsos, only nine years later the European Union past its very first regulation on the recognition and financing of political parties at European level. The Commission presented in 2001, based on the Tsastsos-Report, a draft treaty. In defining political parties at European level, the Commission wanted to leave room for manoeuvre and the concept to evolve. The European Parliament tabled some amendments to the Commission’s proposal, which were accepted by vast majority by the Commission. But there appeared to be a clash between the Member Stats on the party regulation within the Council. The Council was not able to agree on the draft treaty. The Commission eventually, in a new attempt, proposed more pragmatic solutions in 2003. The most important change had been the extension of the definition of political parties by “an

55 H. SIMON and C.LORD, The Political parties at European Level, London, Oxford, 1997,63. 56 H. SIMON, The Political system of the European Union, New York, 2005, 186-187. 57 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, Report on the constitutional status of the European Political Parties, 1996. 58 I. VAN BIEZEN, Regulating Political Parties : European Democracies in Comparative Perspectives, Leiden Leiden University Press 2014, 2014,155. 59 Article 191 Treaty of Nice.

association of citizens pursuing political objectives, and either recognised by or established in accordance with, the legal order of at least one Member State”. The Council adopted the Regulation on 5 September 2003. 60 From that moment on, political parties at European Level finally received legal status and started to benefit from a direct budget of the European Parliament’s budget. The political parties at European level entered a new stage of development with those revised funding regulations. The clear one to one relationship between political parties at European level and European political groups disappeared61 as political parties became more independent from the political groups.62 In 2004, two new political parties at European Level were formed, the Party of the European Left and the European Democratic Party.

As the Regulation 2004/2003 was mainly devoted to financial issues, the process to strengthen the political parties at European level was not finished yet.

The missing issues were subject to the amendment of 2007. The main achievements of the Regulation 1524/2007 had been recognising a new legal entity, namely political foundations at the European level, and the amendment article 8 of the Regulation 2003/2004, stating: “The expenditure of political parties at European level may also include financing campaigns conducted by the political parties at European level in the context of the elections to the European Parliament, in which they participate as required in Art. 3(1)(d). In accordance with Art. 7, these appropriations shall not be used for the direct or indirect funding of national political parties or candidates”. From that moment on, political parties at European Level could finance campaigns in the context of the elections of the European Parliament. 63

And still, several structural shortcomings could be revealed: the Statute was little more than a set of rules enabling the regulation of public funding of the political parties organised at European level. Second, political parties organised at European Level were kept in a subordinate position to their national parties and political groups. And third, the biggest shortcoming was the Regulation did not address how to effectively link the political parties organised at European level to the European Citizens and their society.

60 I. VAN BIEZEN, Regulating Political Parties : European Democracies in Comparative Perspectives, Leiden Leiden University Press 2014, 2014, 157-160. 61 S.VAN HECKE, “Reconnecting European Political parties with European Union Citizens”, International IDEA Discussion Paper 6, 2018, 12-14. 62 S. VAN HECKE, ”Reconnecting Political Parties with European Union Citizens”, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018,15. 63 K.M. JOHANSSON and T. RAUNIO, Regulating Europarties: Cross-Party Regulations Capitalizing on Incomplete Contract, Party Politics, Volume 11, no.5, 522.

As a reaction to these insufficiencies, the Committee on Constitutional Affairs adopted the Giannakou- Report, a comprehensive document calling for significant changes. The report listed guidelines to be followed by the Commission in formulating the new draft. Those guidelines can be grouped into four general provisions: firstly, legal provisions which mainly focused on the criteria to be recognized. Secondly, the organizational provisions whereby is stated that political parties should respect the internal democratic procedures. The electoral provisions expounded the right for political parties at European level to participate in national referenda only when it concerns issues linked to the European Union. Lastly, the financial requirements imposed a reform whereby the Commission should introduce a new title in the financial regulations especially dedicated to the political parties at European level and foundations. It also requested a stricter framework for sanctions to enhance the transparency of private fund-raising.64

In 2012, the Commission adopted a proposal for Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. The proposal for a Regulation aimed to create conditions that allow the political parties at European level and political foundations to grow and provide a stronger role to reinforce democracy at EU level and be the link between the European Union and his citizens.65

Eventually, a new Regulation was approved in 2014, that included some interesting changes. Firstly, the Regulation speaks explicitly about “European Political Parties” no longer “ Political parties at European level”. Secondly, it imposes the duty of political parties at European Level to respect the values of Article 2 TEU. But also an enhanced legal status for political parties at European level.66 The Regulation 1141/2014 gives political parties organised at European level new incentives to acquire legal personality. Article 6 of the Regulation introduces the High Authority. The High Authority is an independent ad hoc organ with legal personality, that had been established to decide on the registration of political parties organised at European level. Every political party who wants to obtain European legal status must be registered. Once registered, political parties at European level benefit from legal recognition in all Member States and can apply for funding of the general budget of the European Union. To be registered, political parties at European level

64 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH SERVICE, Political Parties and Political Foundations at European Level. Challenges and Opportunities, 2014, 38-42. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2014/509983/IPOL_STU(2014)509983_EN.pdf. 65 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, (COM (2012) 499 final, 12 September 2012), 3. 66 F. SAITTO, European Political Parties and European Public Space from the Maastricht Treaty to the Regulation No.1141/2014, Econstor, Discussion Paper 2/17, 2017, 8-16.

should respect the values on which the EU is founded.67 Article 3 of this Regulation stipulates a political alliance shall only be entitled to apply to register when it meets the following conditions: The political alliance must have its seat in a Member State as indicated in the statues. Its member parties must be or be represented by, in at least one-quarter of the Member States, members of the European Parliament, of national parliaments, of regional parliaments or regional assemblies, or it or its member parties must have received, in at least one-quarter of the Member States, at least three per cent of the votes cast in each of those Member States at the most recent elections to the European Parliament.68

The Regulation imposes specific requirements on the modalities of membership of political parties at European level. Moreover, its members must have participated in elections to the European Parliament, or have expressed publicly the intention to participate in the next elections to the European Parliament and the political alliance must not pursue profit goals. It must observe, in particular in its political programme and in its activities, the values on which the Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 TEU, namely respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Every political alliance needs to have a political programme, but no further substantive or ideological requirements are imposed. So, political parties at European level do not have to support the European integration, neither do they have to be ideologically homogenous. They do have to obtain a political manifesto that observes the European Union fundamental values, but also in this respect, no further conditions are imposed. Also, no provisions are foreseen considering the link between political parties d at European Level and political groups in the European Parliament.69

The same year, the 8th direct elections of the European Union took place. For the first time, the election of the President of the European Commission occurred in a new context as the Lisbon Treaty introduced the so- called Spitzenkandidat-process.70 In the light of the new situation, the Commission published a Recommendation on enhancing the democratic and efficient conduct of the elections to the European Parliament. By this Recommendation, the Commission urged the political parties at European Level to nominate candidates for President of the Commission. It was aimed to make the link between citizens’ votes and the election of the President of the Commission more visible.71

67 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT , Political Parties and Political Foundations at European Level. Challenges and Opportunities, European Union, 2014, 37-43. 68 Article 3(1) (b) Regulation 2018/673 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 69 S.VAN HECKE, Reconnecting European Political parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper 6, 2018, 25-26. 70 Article 17 TFEU. 71 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Report on the 2014 European Parliament Elections, 8.

Besides, The Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community also introduced article 10(4) stating: ”Political parties at European level are important as a factor for integration within the Union. They contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union.” The Lisbon Treaty introduced the representative democracy into the European Parliament, which brought a new role for the political parties at European level. Interesting to mention one significant difference between article 138 A Maastricht Treaty and Article 10 (4) Lisbon Treaty. Whereas the Maastricht Treaty profiled political parties at European level to be important actors in the integration process, article 10 (4) Lisbon Treaty did not mention this role.

As EU voters now could have a say in who would lead the European Commission, it was believed that the 2014 elections could be ‘really different this time’.72 But to the disappointment of many, the voter turn-out declined further. So far, in all eight elections before the 2019 EU elections, the voter turnout has continued to decline leading to an all-time low of 42.62% in 2014.73

After the 2014 elections of the European Parliament, the AFCO Committee took the initiative to examine possible amendments to the Regulation No 1141/2014. On 22 April 2016, the three biggest political parties organised at European Level, namely the EPP, PES and ALDE, addressed a joint letter to the Commission in order the review the existing provisions. In July 2016 the Parliament’s Secretary-General presented a report which focused on the deficiencies of the existing regulation. The AFCO Committee decided to present an oral question to the Commission to emphasize several issues and to propose a new legislative initiative. A plenary debate was held in March 2017 in the European Parliament, where mostly financial concerns had been expressed. Eventually, the Parliament adopted a resolution on the funding of political parties and political foundations at European level. The newest resolution concentrated particularly on the level of co- financing and the possibility of multi-party membership of the members of the European Parliament.74 On 13 September 2017, Juncker announced the adoption of a proposal for new rules on the financing of European political parties and foundations. In his State of the Union, he makes a strong statement, stating the Union needs to take a democratic leap forward.75 Accordingly, the Commission proposed amendments to enhance transparency and democratic legitimacy ahead of the elections of 2019. The recommendations

72 T. CHRISTIANSEN, After the Spitzenkandidaten: fundamental change in the EU’s political system?, West European Politics, Vol. 39, No 5, 1006. 73 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH SERVICE, Elections of the President of the European Commission: Understanding the Spitzenkandidaten Process, 2019, 5-6. 74 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH SERVICE, European Political Parties and Foundations: Statute & Funding, Briefing, 2018, 4-7. 75 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, State of the Union 2017, 13 September 2017.

suggested to political parties at the European level to make an earlier selection of the parties, more visibility of the leading candidates and a visible link between national parties and the political parties at European level.76 In its resolution of 7 February 2018, the European Parliament encouraged the political parties at European level to nominate the leading candidates by an ‘open, transparent and democratic competition’. 77

On 4 May 2018, the Regulation 2018/673 amending Regulation No1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations entered into force.78 The Regulation reconfirmed the obligation for political parties at European Level to respect the values expressed in article 2 TEU to receive funding79 and thereby tightened further the registration requirement.80 From that moment on, national political parties can only be a member of one political party at European level.81 This measure is taken to prevent that national parties could artificially create several political parties at European level with the same tendencies.82 Additionally, the list of values of article 2 TEU has been spelt out and citizens can address a reasoned request to the European Parliament to induce it to lodge a question for verification of compliance with article 2 TEU values to the Authority.83

On 13 May 2018, the Council adopted the Council Decision 2018/994 amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 1976. In 2015, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the amendment of the Electoral Act of 1976. The European Parliament aimed at strengthening the democratic and transnational dimension of the elections of the European Parliament by proposing several changes such as a common deadline for the nomination of the lead candidates (the Spitzenkandidaten) by the political parties at European level 12 weeks before the elections of the European Parliament and enhanced

76 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Commission Recommendation (EU) 2018/234 of 14 February 2018 on enhancing the European nature and efficient conduct of the 2019 elections to the European Parliament, 2018, 42-43. 77 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH SERVICE, Election of the President of the European Commission: Understanding the Spitzenkandidaten process, 2019, 2. 78 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH SERVICE, European political parties and political foundations: Statute & funding, 2018, 2-7. 79 Article 1 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 May 2018 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 80 J. MORIJN, Responding to “Populist” politics at EU Level: Regulations 1141/2014 and beyond, ICON, Oxford, 2019, 629. 81 Article 1 (4) Regulation 2018/673 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 82 Recital 4 Regulation 2018/673 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 83 Article 10 (3) amended by Regulation 2018/673 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations.

visibility of political parties organised at European level by placing the names and logos on the ballot papers. Also, a mandatory threshold between 3 % and 5 % for the allocation of seats for constituencies with more than 26 seats in the European Parliament, was proposed by the European Parliament. 84

Eventually, on 7 June 2018, the Council adopted a draft version on the reform of the Electoral Act. The draft decision contained the possibility for the Member States to allow the name and logo of political parties at European level. Furthermore, the proposal of the European Parliament concerning the thresholds was modified. Article 1 (2) of the draft decision provides a threshold, for the Member States with more than 35 seats, between 2% and 5%. The Council could not reach an agreement on the procedure of the nomination of the lead candidates as proposed by the European Parliament.

On 4 July 2018, the European Parliament gave its consent to the draft decision. Finally, on 13 July 2018, the Council adopted Council Decision 2018/994 with two abstentions, including Belgium. As the ratification process was not completed by the elections of the European Parliament of 2019, the Council decision could not be applied.85 The Council Decision will enter into force when every Member State give their approval according to their respective constitutional requirements.86

On 27 March 2019, the Regulation 2019/493 of the European Parliament and the Council entered into force. This Regulation amends the Regulation No 1141/2014 as regards a verification procedure related to infringements of rules on the protection of personal data in the context of elections to the European Parliament. The Regulation aims to prevent the misuse of personal data to influence the European Elections by political parties at European level. 87 It introduces financial sanctions for political parties at European level that misuse personal data in political campaigns for the European elections.88

2. The Internal Organisation and Financing of Political Parties at European Level The previous paragraphs focused on the historical and regulatory framework of political at European level. In this paragraph, the internal organisation and financing of the political parties at European level will be examined.

84 Resolution 2015/2035 of 11 November 2015 on the reform of the electoral law of the European Union. 85 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH SERVICE, European Union electoral law: Current situations and historical background, 2019, 3-4. 86 Article 223 TFEU. 87 Article 1(3) Regulation 2019/493 of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 March 2019 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 as regards a verification procedure related to infringements of rules on the protection of personal data in the context of elections to the European Parliament. 88 Article 1(6) Ibid.

2.1. The Internal Organisation of Political Parties at European Level

The organisation of political parties at European resembles in many ways to national political parties. The highest decision-making organ is Congress. Every political party at European level organises regularly party Congresses where national party members and political parties at European level’s officials come together. It is an excellent opportunity for national party members to network and to discuss the future of the political party organised at European level.89 During a Congress, party members decide on fundamental party issues such as the election of the party leadership, the nomination of the Spitzenkandidat, the approval of the party’s manifesto and the voting of the party’s position.90

Other organs are the Bureau and the Presidency.91 They decide, between the Congresses, on the day to day management of the political party. The Council or a political assembly decides on the political priorities and guidelines, as well as membership applications.92 Finally, most of the political parties at European level hold party leader’s meetings, pre-summits and summits.

Political parties at European level operate both at national and European level and are involved in intergovernmental institutions as well as supranational institutions at European level. Therefore, these parties are transnational or multi-level parties. They operate as an important link between national and European level, intergovernmental and supranational institutions. 93

2.2. The Financing of Political Parties at European Level

Political parties at European level are financed from the EU budget. Regulation No 1141/2014 states political parties at European level can receive funding according to their expenditure linked to the objectives set out in their political program. In practice, it concerns, for example, meetings and conferences, publications,

89 S. VAN HECKE, Reconnecting Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 29. 90 N. PENALVER- GARCIA, J.PRIESTLEY, European Political Parties: learning from 2014, preparing for 2019, Notre Europe, 2015, 5. 91 K.M. JOHANSSON and T.RAUNIO, Political parties in the European Union, Oxford University Press, 2019, 9. 92 N. PENALVER- GARCIA, J.PRIESTLEY, European Political Parties: learning from 2014, preparing for 2019, Notre Europe, 2015, 5. 93 S. VAN HECKE, Reconnecting Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 11-14.

studies and advertisements, administrative personnel and travel costs or campaign costs related to European election. Only political parties who are registered may apply for funding from the general budget.94

The part of the general budget will be distributed following article 19 Regulation No 1141/2014, amended by Regulation 2018/673. 10% of this part shall be distributed in equal shares among the beneficiary European political parties, the remaining 90% shall be distributed in proportion to their share of elected members of the European Parliament among the beneficiary European political parties.95 A member of the European Parliament shall be considered to be a member of a political party at European level to which his or her national political party is affiliated on the final date for the submission of applications of funding.96 The remaining expenses of the political parties at European Level are covered by donations and membership fees. According to article 20 (1), the ceiling on donations is 18.000 euro per donor per year. For donations above 3.000 euro the donors' name as well the details of their donations must be disclosed. For donations between 1.500 and 3.000 euro donor’s identity will only be published with an explicitly given consent. 97 Donations which not exceed 1.500 euro are considered to be minor donations for which donors’ identity does not need to be disclosed.98 Regulation 2018/673 states clearly that only political parties can sponsor the creation of a political party at European Level and no longer individuals, which also immediately ends to multiparty membership.

Also, political parties at European level will only receive funding when their national member parties display the logo and programme of the political party at European level on their website. A measure is taken to enhance transparency.99 Besides, the Authority shall remove a European political party and its affiliated European political foundation from the Register where the party in question fails to prove within the period set out that it meets the conditions laid down in article 3 of the Regulation No 1141/2014.100 In 2019 the maximum available budget for grants was 50 million, compared to 33.4 million in 2018.101

94 Article 17(1) Regulation No. 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations 95 Article 1 (8) Regulation 2018/673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 May 2018 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 96 Article 17 (3) Regulation No. 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 97 Article 20 Regulation No. 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations 98 Article 32 (1) Regulation No. 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations 99 Article 1 (7) Regulation 2018/673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 May 2018 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 100 Article 1 (15) Regulation 2018/673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 May 2018 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 101 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH SERVICE, Rules on political groups in the EP, 2019, 6.

2.3. The European Political Foundations

Soon after the adoption of the Regulation 2003/2004, the creation of political foundations was suggested by the advocates of a further strengthening of the partisan elements of the European Union. The European Commission who warmly welcomed the idea saw the role of the European political foundations twofold. On the one hand, European political foundations would complement the activities of political parties at European level by undertaking a range of activities that contribute to the debate on European public policy issues and European integration, including by acting as catalysts for new ideas, analysis and policy options. On the other hand, the Commission saw the role from European political foundations in undertaking different and more long-term activities from political parties at the European level, who for obvious reasons place more emphasis on responding to the day-to-day politics of the Union. 102 The ultimate goal was the creation of a European public sphere by the European political foundations level together with the political parties at European level. By creating a public sphere it is attempted that as much as citizens are aware of the different political parties at European level and their political views and, based on this information, can make informed political choices. Accordingly, citizens would be able to recognize the different political parties at European level and their different political positions.

In this respect, the primary role of European political foundations would be to analyse the EU politics and the EU institutions from a purely ideological point of view, according to the political affiliation of the foundation. 103

The Commission’ draft legislative proposal of 27 June 2007, was easily adopted in the European Parliament and the Council. However, the European Parliament report on the issue tabled a few amendments to the draft legislative proposal of the Commission. The report added for example that political foundations should have a separate legal basis, that they shall not promote profit goals and that they cannot finance electoral campaigns.104 The Council, who was generally in favour of political foundations, rejected the idea to create a separate budget line for the financing of political foundations. The Regulation 1546/2007, amending

102 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding, COM/2007/0364 final - COD 2007/0130, 2007. 103 W.GAGATEK and S. VAN HECKE, Towards Policy-Seeking Europarties? The development of European political foundations, Robert Schuman Centre For Advanced Studies, 2011/58, 2011, 4. 104 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding, COM(2007)0364 – C6-0202/2007 – 2007/0130(COD), 2007.

Regulation 2003/2004, entered eventually into force on 28 December 2007. Ever since the activities of the political parties at European level are complemented by European Political Foundations.105

Article 2(4) of the Regulation 2003/2004 defines a political foundation at European level as “ an entity or network of entities which has legal personality in a Member State, is affiliated with a political party at European level, and which through its activities, within the aims and fundamental values pursued by the European Union, underpins and complements the objectives of the political party at European level”. Apart from the above-mentioned conditions, article 3(2) Regulation 2003/2004 requires political foundations at European level observe the in its programme and in its activities, the principles on which the European Union is founded, namely the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. According to the Regulation, a political foundation at European level can only apply for funding through the political party organised at European level with which it is affiliated.106

In 2014, this Regulation was replaced by the Regulation No 1141/2014, last amended in 2018 by the Regulation 2018/673. Regulation No 1141/2014 retained and confirmed similar rules on the political foundations at European level, as stated in the Regulation 2003/2004, amended by Regulation 1524/2007. The definition of a political foundation at European level changed partially. On the one hand, the new Regulation reaffirms a political foundation is an entity which is formally affiliated with a European political party and which through its activities, within the aims and fundamental values pursued by the Union, underpins and complements the objectives of the European political party. On the other hand, the Regulation introduced that to be considered a political foundation at European level, it is necessary to be registered by the Authority.107

Concerning the rules of funding of the political foundation at European level, political foundations at European level, who are registered, may apply from funding from the general budget of the European Union.108 This part shall be distributed according to the same distribution key used to the funding of political

105 Regulation 1524/2007, amending Regulation 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding. 106 Article 1 (3) (b) Regulation 1524/2007, amending Regulation 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding. 107 Article 6 Regulation No. 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 108 Article 17 (2) Regulation No. 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations.

parties at European level.109 Today 10 political foundations organised at European level are registered by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations.110

3. Conclusion

A political party at European level is as a political organisation in a European dimension that follows a political programme. A political party at European level is composed out of national political parties and/or individual members that need to be registered with the Authority for European political parties and European political foundations.111 National political parties can only be a member of one political party at European level and it is not necessary to join a national political party to become a member of a political party at European level.112

Political parties at European level developed their infrastructure and influence gradually. Before the first elections of the European Parliament, political parties at European level were established as members of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community and they sat according to their political affiliation rather than nationality.113 A practice, which would also be adopted in the first direct elections of the European Parliament of 1979. The real breakthrough came with the Maastricht Treaty whereas article 138(A) introduced the first legal reference to political parties at European level. Nonetheless, no legal basis for adopting laws on the statute and financing of the political parties was foreseen. Therefore, the Nice Treaty empowered the Council to lay down legislation governing the political parties and their funding. In this regard, the Commission adopted in 2004 the Regulation on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding.114 In 2007 this regulation was amended to enable parties

109 Article 1 (8) Regulation No. 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 110 Those foundations are: Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, European Liberal Forum, Institute of European Democrats, Green European Foundation, Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Sallux, New Directions- The Foundation for European Reform, Coppieters Foundation, Transform Europe, Association pour l’Identité et Démocratie Fondation, http://www.appf.europa.eu/appf/en/parties-and-foundations/registered- foundations.html (last accessed on 8 April 2020). 111 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, ‘Political Parties at European Level' < https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/3/political-parties-and-political-foundations-at-the-european-level>, last accessed on 14 June 2020. 112 Article 1 (4) Regulation 2018/673 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. 113 M. WESTLAKE, Possible Future European Union Party-Political Systems, Bruges Political Research Papers, College of Europe, Bruges, No 60, 2017, 5. 114 Council regulation (EC) and of the European Parliament 2004/2003 of 4 November 2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding [2003], OJ L297/1 .

to establish corresponding political foundations at European level.115 In 2014 the Regulation 1524/2007 was replaced by a new regulation which was amended by the Regulation 2018/673 to better meet the objective of encouraging the political parties at European level to provide a strong link between the European civil society and the European Parliament.116 In 2019, Regulation No 1141/2014 was last amended to avoid misuse of personal data by political parties at European level in electoral campaigns.117

Article 10(4) Treaty on the European Union emphasizes the role of political parties at European level as an important factor for the integration within the Union. They contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union.118

Up to date, 10 political parties at European Level are registered.119

Chapter II: The Democratic Deficit of the European Union

The democratic deficit is a highly discussed topic among many scholars. With the increasing power of the European Union, the discussion became more intensive and resulted in a division of two opposing views in legal literature. The majority’s opinion believes there is a democratic deficit whereas the minority’s opinion consists in denying there is a democratic deficit of the European Union.

MAJONE and MORAVCISK are two scholars who that deny there is a democratic deficit in the European Union. MAJONE does not apply the notion of democratic deficit to the current European Union. Instead, he believes the European Union has a legitimacy deficit. He believes that European citizens do not want further political integration of the European Union. Instead, they would prefer an economic regulatory polity a size smaller.120 He, therefore, argues that the legitimacy deficit would be easily solved by clear mandates and transparent working procedures of the European institutions. MORAVCISK states that the concern about the

115 Council regulation (EC) 1524/2007 of 18 December 2007 amending Regulation (EC) 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding [2007], OJ L345/5 116 Recital 2 of the Council Regulation (EC) and of the European Parliament 2018/673 of 3 May 2018 amending Regulation No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of Political parties at European level and European political foundations [2018], OJ L114/1. 117 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2019/493 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 March 2019 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 as regards a verification procedure related to infringements of rules on the protection of personal data in the context of elections to the European Parliament [2019], OJ L 85I. 118 Article 10(4) Treaty on the European Union. 119 Registered political parties at European Level are: ALDE, EPP, PES, European Democratic Party, European Free Alliance, European Green Party, Party of the European Left, Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe, European Christian Political Movement, Identité et Démocratie Parti, http://www.appf.europa.eu/appf/en/parties-and- foundations/registered-parties.html, last consulted on 23 March 2020. 120 G. MAJONE, The common sense of European integration, Journal of European Public Policy, 2006, 618-621.

European Union’s democratic deficit is misplaced. According to him, the democratic deficit is a myth. He says the European Union has both direct and indirect accountability via the European Parliament and elected national officials.121 He also does not follow the view of those scholars who argue greater that participation in European political institutions will generate a deeper sense of political community in Europe. The European Union already meets the democratic standards of its Member States.122 This thesis follows the majority’s opinion considering that there exists a democratic deficit of the European Union.

The term democratic deficit was used for the first time by David Marquand in 1979, to describe the weakness of the democratic legitimacy of the European Community institutions in the 1970s.123 Ever since, the definition and the conceptualization of the democratic deficit is a much-contested and recurrent theme in academic debate. Considering that there is no single definition of democracy, it is even more difficult to provide a unified opinion on the democratic deficit. It would, however, go beyond the capacity of this thesis to focus on all existing definitions of the democratic deficit. The following paragraphs therefore provide an overview of the two main perspectives of the democratic deficit of the European Union: the institutional deficit and the social deficit.

1. The institutional deficit

The first perspective of the democratic deficit of the European Union concerns the institutional deficit. According to the institutional deficit, the functioning of the European Union’s institutions must be evaluated. In this regard, many scholars compare the European Union’s institutions with national political institutions and their underlying norms of representation.124

A popular argument is the lack of parliamentary control by the European Parliament on the executive power of the European Union. More precisely, at national level the power balance in the national parliaments determines the composition of the government 125, however, at the level of the European Union, there is no

121 A.MORAVCSIK, In defence of the democratic deficit: Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union, Journal of Common Market Studies, vol.40, no.4, 2002, 612. 122 A.MORAVCSIK, In defence of the democratic deficit: Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union, Journal of Common Market Studies, vol.40, no.4, 2002, 622. 123D. MARQUAND, Parliament for Europe, Jonathan Cape, London, 1979, 64. 124 J. RICHARDSON and S. MAZEY, European Union: Power and Policymaking, Routlegde, New York, 2015, 476. 125 S. BLOCKMANS and S. RUSSACK, Representative Democracy in the EU: Recovering Legitimacy, Rowman & Littlefield International, London, 2014, 54.

European government that is democratically accountable to the European Parliament or the citizens of the European Union.126

Article 10(1) TEU distinguishes two different channels of political representation. The supranational channel where citizens of the European Union are directly represented at the level of the European Union in the European Parliament. And the intergovernmental channel where Member states are represented in the European Council by their Heads of State or Government and in the Council by their governments.127 But there appears to be an asymmetry. Whereas the heads of states and governments of the member states in the European Council are held democratically accountable either to the national parliaments or to their citizens, nothing is said about the European Commission.128

At national level, the power balance in the national parliaments determines the composition of the government.129 The national parliamentary democracies involve political parties as key actors in the formation and maintenance of the government. Political parties are fundamental in distributing positions in the executive.130 Executives are formed out of the Parliament.131 In this way, political parties are involved in every step in the chain of delegation: Voters elect parliamentarians, parliamentarians elect the government, and the government imposes legislation. The question arises of political parties organised at European level can fulfil their role as ensuring political accountability.132 At the level of the European Union, the European Parliament is not constituted in a 'government-opposition' formation. Up until 2014, there was no connection between the outcome of the European Parliamentary elections and the formation of the European Commission. What was primarily at stake was who will sit in the Parliament and not who will govern. Consequently, in contrast to the member states, there is no European Government that is democratically accountable to the European Parliament or the European Citizens.133 What we see here is the disconnection between representation on the one hand and government on the other hand.

126 S. BLOCKMANS and S. RUSSACK, Representative Democracy in the EU: Recovering Legitimacy, Rowman & Littlefield International, London, 2014, 54. 127 Article 10 (2) The Treaty on European Union. 128 Article 10 (3) The Treaty on European Union 129 S. BLOCKMANS and S. RUSSACK, Representative Democracy in the EU: Recovering Legitimacy, Rowman & Littlefield International, London, 2014, 54. 130 B.LINDBERG, A. RASMUSSEN and A.WARNTJEN, Party Politics as usual? The role of political parties in EU legislative decision-making, Journal of European Public Policy, 2008, 1108. 131 P.MAIR and J. THOMASSON, Political representation and government in the European Union, Journal of European Public Policy, 17, 2010, 24. 132 B.LINDBERG, A. RASMUSSEN and A.WARNTJEN, Party Politics as usual? The role of political parties in EU legislative decision-making, Journal of European Public Policy, 2008, 1108 133 S. BLOCKMANS and S. RUSSACK, Representative Democracy in the EU: Recovering Legitimacy, Rowman & Littlefield International, London, 2014, 54.

Something unknown in most national democracies. And since this model is used in most European countries, the separation of those two functions of parties (representing in Parliament and control on the bodies that govern), contributes to the democratic deficit.134

Another much-heard argument considering the institutional deficit relates to the European Parliament elections and the way political parties organise those European Parliament elections. 135 European Parliament elections are conceived to be second-order elections. 136 According to this theory of second-order elections, which was first used by REIF and SCHMITT, European Parliament elections are considered to be less important than first-order elections, i.e. national elections, by voters, media and political parties. According to REIF and SCHMITT, European Parliament elections are conceived to be second-order elections because voter turnout is lower than in national elections and voters use European Parliament elections to punish or reward current governing parties.137 They explain voter behaviour by reasoning voters found it easier to vote for smaller parties in European Parliament elections rather than in national elections where is more at stake. Moreover, Article 223 TFEU states that the European Parliament elections shall be held by a uniform procedure in all Member States.138 Yet, there is no uniform electoral rule for the Parliament. Consequently, members of the European Parliament are elected from national lists, according to each countries' electoral laws.139 The only obligation for member states is to use a form of the proportional electoral system. As a result of this diversity in electoral laws, the European Parliament elections are described more like as 27 national elections than one European Parliament election.140 To change this diversity in electoral laws, the idea of transnational lists is often introduced. This idea will be further examined in Chapter III. HIX and FOLLESDAL perceive the lack of a connection between the growing democratic politics inside the European Parliament and the European Council and the views of the public to be a big problem.141 They consider the lack of clearly recognisable parliamentary opposition at European level as one of the greatest hindrances to the development of democracy at European level. Parliamentary control would provide the

134 P.MAIR and J. THOMASSON, Political representation and government in the European Union, Journal of European Public Policy, 17, 2010, 24. 135 K.-H. REIF and H. SCHMITT, Nine Second Order National Elections: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of European Election Results, European Journal of Political Research, 8/1, 1980, 8-15. 136 K.-H. REIF and H. SCHMITT, Nine Second Order National Elections: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of European Election Results, European Journal of Political Research, 8/1, 1980, 8-15. 137 K.-H. REIF and H. SCHMITT, Nine Second Order National Elections: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of European Election Results, European Journal of Political Research, 8/1, 1980, 3. 138 Article 223 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 139 H. VOS and R. HEIRBAUT, Europa in woelig water, Davidsfonds Uitgeverij, 2019, 205-206. 140 N.BOLIN, K. FALASCA, M. GRUSELL and L.NORD, Leading Academics on the European Elections of 2019, Mittuniversitetet, 2019, 9-11. 141 A. FOLLESDAL and S. HIX, Why There is a Democratic Deficit in the EU: A Response to Majone and Moravcsik, Journal of Common Market Studies, 553.

European citizen with competing policies what would allow the voters to punish the members of the European Parliament. Voters would become aware of the Members of the European Parliament and what they are doing.142

However, despite many arguments criticizing the institutional framework of the European Union, the Lisbon Treaty introduced a full chapter on democratic principles. Article 10 TEU illustrates this the best. This article states that the functioning of the European Union shall be founded on representative democracy. 143 According to this model, the democratic credentials of representatives could be assured by having electoral mechanisms for their authorisation and accountability.144 At European level, representative democracy has a twofold nature.145 On the one hand, citizens of the European Union are directly represented at the level of the European Union in the European Parliament. On the other hand, Member states are represented in the European Council by their Heads of State or Government and in the Council by their governments. 146 Besides, every citizen of the European Union shall have the right to participate in the democratic life of the European Union.147 Citizens can participate in the democratic life of the European Union through the right to petition and the citizen’s initiative on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the European Union is required for implementing the Treaties.148

In the case of the Commission, the Lisbon Treaty introduced the direct election of Commission’s president. More precisely, according to Article 17(7) TEU the president of the Commission will be elected by taking into account the results of the European Elections.149 A more detailed analysis of the so-called Spitzenkandidat procedure follows in chapter III.

2. The Social Deficit

142 A. FOLLESDAL and S. HIX, Why There is a Democratic Deficit in the EU: A Response to Majone and Moravcsik, Journal of Common Market Studies, 550. 143 Article 10 (1) Treaty onthe European Union 144 R. BELLAMY and S. KROGER, Representation Deficits and Surpluses in EU Policy-making, European Integration, Vol.35, No.5, 2013, 478. 145 F. SAITTO, European political parties and European public space from the Maastricht Treaty to the Reg. No. 1141/2014, Discussion Paper, No. 2/17, Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, 15. 146 Article 10 (2) Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union. 147 Article 10 (3) Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union. 148 Article 11(4) and 20 Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union. 149 Article 17(7) Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union.

The second perspective of the democratic deficit of the European Union is the social deficit. According to the social deficit, the European Union does not function as a democracy because it is lacking a European demos. 150

The word demos originates from the ancient Greek, meaning people. When speaking about European demos, or the absence of it, academics refer to the absence of an awareness of or identification with the European Union.151 If there are no demos, there can be no democracy.152 More precisely, without demos, there is no confidence or solidarity, which are two essential values for a democratic system.153

The need for demos is related to the principle of majoritarian decision-making, namely members of a democratic system have to respect the decision of a majority. To make this happen, citizens have to share a common identity.154 The social deficit sees identity formation as a pre-requisite to democratic procedures.155 SCHARPF describes a common identity as the ‘essential sameness arising from pre-existing commonalties of history, language, culture and ethnicity’.156 As most commentators agree there are is transnational demos at the level of the European Union, a common identity at the level of the European Union is understood as a common cultural identity.157 The Eurobarometer survey of spring 2018 analysed the opinions of European citizens on European identity. It showed in 20 of the 27 Member States of the European Union citizens do feel attached to the European Union and more than two-thirds of Europeans feel that they are a citizen of the European Union.158

3. Conclusion

The democratic deficit of the European Union is a multi-faced problem, with a multitude of reasons and solutions. The democratic deficit is studied and researched from a variety of perspectives and scientific disciplines. It appears each scholar has his view on the problem and comes to various conclusions. Nevertheless, two main perspectives are characterizing the democratic deficit of the European Union: the institutional and the social deficit.

150 R. BELLAMY, Still in Deficit: Rights, Regulation and Democracy in the European Union, European Law Journal, Vol 12, No.6, 2006, 726. 151 M. JOLLY, A demos for the European Union?, Politics, vol.25, 2015, 12. 152 J.H.H. WEILER, The Constitution of Europe, Cambridge University Press, 1999, 337. 153 D. INNERARITY, Does Europe truly needs to be democratic?, LEQS Paper, No. 77/2014, 2014, 2. 154 M. JOLLY, A demos for the European Union?, Politics, vol.25, 2015, 12. 155 T. JENSEN, The Democratic Deficit of the European Union, Living Reviews in Democracy, Zurich, 2009, 6. 156 F.W. SCHARPF, Governing in Europe. Effective and Democratic, New York, Oxford University Press, 1999, 8. 157 M. JOLLY, A demos for the European Union?, Politics, vol.25, 2015, 13. 158 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Standard Eurobarometer 89, 2018.

According to the institutional deficit, we have to evaluate the institutional framework of the European Union and its functioning. Whereas the social deficit considers the lack of a European demos as the cause of the democratic deficit of the European Union. Consequently, the questions are how the governmental actions can be controlled at European level and how to make the citizens aware that they are controlled. It is of importance to consider how to build democratic supranational and intergovernmental institutions that produce decisions that include the citizen's consensus.159

In this perspective, political parties at European level can be of fundamental interest as they mediate between the European citizens and the decision-making process at European level.160 Chapter III explores to what extent recent changes to political parties at European level contribute to enhancing democracy in the European Union.

Chapter III: What can be done by the Political Parties at European Level?

In 1942, SCHATTSCHNEIDER asserted famously 'political parties created democracy and modern democracy is unthinkable save in terms of the parties'. 161 The centrality of political parties in a democracy is generally accepted over the years, and they are widely seen to be a sine qua non for the organization of modern democracy.162 Political parties help to aggregate and communicate policy preferences, link decision- making between different legislative bodies and hold politicians accountable.163

At European level, political parties are involved in intergovernmental institutions as well as supranational institutions. Article 10(4) TEU states political parties at European level contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union. Political parties at European level

159 S.HIX, A.NOURY and G. ROLAND, Democracy in the European Parliament, 2005, 41. 160 S.HIX, A.NOURY and G. ROLAND, Democracy in the European Parliament, 2005, 41. 161 E.E. SCHATTSCHNEIDER, Party Government, New York, 1942,1. 162 I. VAN BIEZEN, Political parties as public utilities, Party Politics, Vol.10, No.6, 2004, 705. 163 B. LINDBERG, A. RASMUSSEN and A. WARNTJEN, Party politics as usual? The role of political parties in EU legislative decision-making, Journal of European Public Policy, 2008, 1107.

operate as an essential link between the national and European level.164 They need to provide a strong link between the European civil society and the European institutions.165

In 2012, the Commission claimed in a proposal that is '…in the interests of the citizens of the European Union that a European representative democracy can flourish. Truly transnational European political parties and political foundations are key to articulation the voices of the citizens at European level'.166

VAN HECKE and WOLFS distinguish seven functions of political parties at European level.167

The first and most important function of political parties at European level is to structure the vote. Political parties at European level play an essential role in the electoral processes of the European Union's representative democracy.168 MAIR and THOMASSON describe this role as follows: "to conceive of elections without parties in a European context is to conceive of something of which we have no real-world experience".169 They are the primary agencies for the contesting elections which underpin our representative democracy.170

The second function of political parties at European level is the mobilization of the population.171 Political parties connect the political system to the citizens. They give voice to the citizens, encourage public debate, respond to social demands and entrust with a European demos172, the feeling of citizens to be connected.173

164 S.VAN HECKE, Reconnecting European Political parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper 6, 2018, 11-14. 165 European Parliament (FAQ), Political parties and Political Foundations, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/3/political-parties-and-political-foundations-at-the-european-level. , (last accessed on 21/03/2020). 166 European Commission, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, (COM (2012) 499 final 2012/0237 (COD), Brussels, 12 September 2012, 2. 167 S.VAN HECKE and W. WOLFS, Reconnecting European Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 18-20. 168 G. B. POWELL JR., Elections As Instruments of Democracy: Majoritarian and Proportional Visions, Yale University Press, 2000, 15. 169 P. MAIR and J. THOMASSON, Political representation and government in the European Union, Journal of European Public Policy, 17, 2010, 24. 170 J. PRIESTLEY, European Political Parties: the missing link, Notre Europe, 2010, 1-4. 171 S.VAN HECKE and W. WOLFS, Reconnecting European Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 19. 172 Hearings of the EP’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs, The perspective for the development of political parties at European level, Brussels, 26 January 2001, 3, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/193681/20110126ATT12590EN- original.pdf?fbclid=IwAR04JRZkXhhMDEP2ccF4TMbJYj9q0EXTQIN9fN9qrHS1cfHd8f1ruB50IOk. 173 M. JOLLY, A demos for the European Union?, Politics, vol.25, 2005, 12-18.

The third function is candidate selection. Political parties recruit political personnel and select political leaders. At European level, this function is somewhat limited as national parliaments create the electoral lists and national governments propose candidates for the Commission.174 Although, since the introduction of the Spitzenkandidaten procedure, most political parties at European level put forward their candidate for the President of the Commission.175

The fourth function is the aggregation of interests of various groups in society.176 The aggregation of interest refers to the process by which political parties collect the demands from a variety of social groups and create a perceived coherence amongst different requests that are potentially in tension with each other.177 Hence, some political parties at European level have an extensive network of affiliated civil society organizations. The EPP, for example, has a network of six associated civil society organizations.178 Unfortunately, this is more the exception than the rule. The network of civil society organizations affiliated with ALDE is much less developed.179 ALDE is only associated with two civil society organizations.180

The fifth function is the formation of public policies. Political parties at European level connect the citizen's preferences to the policy outcomes of the European Union. Parties try to influence policymaking and have to pursue these policy goals within the legislature.181 They seek to have a direct impact on the policy debate and by playing a policy-influencing role and thus be policy-seeking. They can be assumed to be policy-seekers seeking to influence policy outcomes at European level.182

The sixth function of political parties is the organization of government. Parties have to structure the relations between the legislative and executive institutions.183 As mentioned above, political parties at European level

174 S.VAN HECKE and W. WOLFS, Reconnecting European Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 19. 175 Article 17(7) Treaty on the European Union. 176 S.VAN HECKE and W. WOLFS, Reconnecting European Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 19. 177 L.BARDI and E. CALOSSI, “Normal” versus European Party Democracy: Some Theoretical Reflections, paper presented at ECPR General Conference, Science Po Bordeaux, 4-7 September 2013, 9. 178 These civil society organisations are: Youth of the European People’s Party, European Democrat Students, European Senior's Union, European Union of Christian Democratic Workers, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs of Europe and Women of the European People‘s Party, https://www.epp.eu/network/associations/ 179 https://www.aldeparty.eu/gender-equality-network (last accessed on 1 May 2020). 180 C. CLOSE and E. VAN HAUTE, Liberal Parties in Europe, Routledge, 2019, 276. 181 B. LINDBERG, A. RASMUSSEN and A. WARNTJEN, Party politics as usual? The role of political parties in EU legislative decision-making, Journal of European Public Policy, 2008, 1107. 182 J.M. JOHANSSON, Europarties: A Research Note, Discussion Paper C231/2015, Bonn, Zentrum für Europäische Integrationsforschung, 2015, 4. 183 B. LINDBERG, A. RASMUSSEN and A. WARNTJEN, Party politics as usual? The role of political parties in EU legislative decision-making, Journal of European Public Policy, 2008, 19.

have little influence on the formation of the European executive. However, most political parties at European level organize party summits that bring together representatives of their political family from different institutions. Former EPP secretary-general Welle described this function as follows: 'Our key role is coordination and the bringing together of the main players such as the Commission, national governments, national leaderships and party presidents. That coordination and the construction of a joint political identity are important. The function of a European political party is to bind forces together so they can be a major player in the European Parliament'.184

Last but not least, the seventh function, political parties at European level legitimize the political system. This function derives from the previous six. Political parties at European level have to connect the citizens to the political system.

The importance of political parties organised at European level in the representative democracy of the European Union is thus twofold. On the one hand, they are the vital link between the institutions of the European Union and the European citizen. On the other hand, they are channels for a truly European public debate.185 LINDBERG conceive political parties at European level as 'transmission belts' between citizens and legislators in the European Union.186

Unfortunately, despite being deemed to be 'indispensable actors in the political life of the European Union'187, their significance remained low.188 Political parties at European level are not widely known to citizens, and the link between national parties and political parties at European level isn't always made clear towards voters. Consequently, political parties at European level remained somewhat irrelevant in electoral competition.189 The reason is twofold.

First, political parties at European level have only a limited electoral connection. European Parliament elections are fought in national electoral districts, among national political parties. Hence, political parties at

184 Qouted in the European Voice, 11-17 July 1996. 185 European Parliamentary Research Service, Rules on political groups in the EP, 2019, 6. 186 B. LINDBERG, A. RASMUSSEN and A. WARNTJEN, Party politics as usual? The role of political parties in EU legislative decision-making, Journal of European Public Policy, 2008,1. 187 European Parliament, European Parliament Report on the application of Regulation 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding, (2010/2201 (INI), 18 November 2011, 7. 188 S. DAY, Between ‘Containment’ and ‘Transnationalization’- Where next for the Europarties, Activa Politica, Vol. 49, 1, 2014, 1. 189 A. ALEMANNO, Europe Up for Grabs: The looming battle lines of the 2019 European Parliament Elections, Carnegie Europe, 2018, 1.

European level are often be described as federations of national parties sharing a political affiliation. The Giannakou- Report referred to them as being "… merely the umbrella organizations of national parties…".190 The political centre of gravity still lies with the national member parties. Consequently, political parties at European level remained rather irrelevant in electoral competition.191 Therefore it is necessary to make the political parties at European level more visible and make the elections even more 'European'. Second, the absence of a genuine European political system and campaign heavily conditions the electoral process and results. It appears that the European electoral elections and campaign are not about European issues. As long as the perception remains that there is less at stake in European than in other elections, any European policy-based campaign material is less relevant than the national one.192

Many ideas have been floated to make the European elections more genuinely European, one of them has been the introduction of the Spitzenkandidat procedure.

1. The Spitzenkandidat Procedure

Before the Lisbon Treaty entered into force, political parties at European level were perceived as service providers, adopting manifestos and facilitating political debate. In contrast to national political parties, their influence was rather limited. Hardly any ordinary citizen had an idea on the electoral programmes of the political parties when going to vote. 193

The Lisbon Treaty adopted a revised investiture procedure emphasizing the European Council should take into account the results of the elections before nominating a candidate and that the European Parliament subsequently elects the European Council's nominee.

Article 17 (7) states: taking into account the elections to the European Parliament and after having held the appropriate consultations, the European Council, acting by a qualified majority, shall propose to the European Parliament a candidate for President of the Commission. This candidate shall be elected by the European Parliament by a majority of its component members. If he does not obtain the required majority,

190 European Parliament, Report on the application of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding (2010/2201(INI)), 18 March 2001, 6, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+REPORT+A7-2011- 0062+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN (last accessed 25 March 2020). 191 A. ALEMANNO, Europe Up for Grabs: The looming battle lines of the 2019 European Parliament Elections, Carnegie Europe, 2018, 1. 192 C. JADOT and C. KELBEL, Same, Same, but different, Politique Européenne, no.55, 2017, 63. 193 W. GAGATEK, European Political Parties as Campaign organisations: Toward a Greater Politicisation of the European Parliament Elections, Centre for European Studies, 2009, 12.

the European Council, acting by a qualified majority, shall within one month propose a new candidate who shall be elected by the European Parliament following the same procedure. 194

Article 17(7) TEU does not include the requirement of political parties at European level to nominate a lead candidate. This was later added by the European Parliament, in a resolution adopted in 2012, stating: The European Parliament urges the European political parties to nominate candidates for the Presidency of the Commission and expects those candidates to play a leading role in the parliamentary electoral campaign, in particular by personally presenting their programme in all Member States of the Union; stresses the importance of reinforcing the political legitimacy of both Parliament and the Commission by connecting their respective elections more directly to the choice of the voters.195 As the Lisbon Treaty entered into force in 2009, the European Parliament elections of 2014 were the first elections held under the new provisions.

In 2018, it was decided the Spitzenkandidat procedure would be repeated in the 2019 European Parliament elections. The European Parliament vouched it would reject any candidate who had not run as Spitzenkandidat.196 The European Council, on the other hand, stated it could not give up its right to nominate a candidate unless the Treaty would be amended.197

The 2019 European Parliament elections took place between 23-26 May 2019. Given that the EPP was still the largest group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber had seemed to be the most likely choice for the Commission's Presidency. Nevertheless on 16 July 2019, with 383 votes in favour, 327 votes in opposition and 22 abstentions, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission.198 Many argue the Spitzenkandidat procedure came to its end.

The following paragraphs analyse the Spitzenkanidat procedure in the aftermath of the 2019 European Parliament elections. The first part provides an overview on the evolution of the appointment mechanism for

194 Article 17(7) TEU. 195 European Parliament, Resolution on the election to the European Parliament in 2014, 2012/2829, 22 November 2012. 196 European Parliament, European Parliament decision of 7 February 2018 on the revision of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission (2017/2233(ACI)), 3-4, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2018-0030_EN.pdf. 197 European Council, Informal meeting of the 27 heads of state or government: Main results, 23 February 2018, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2018/02/23/ 198 European Parliament, Parliament elects Ursula von der Leyen as first female Commission President, press release, 16 July 2019, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190711IPR56824/parliament-elects-ursula-von- der-leyen-as-first-female-commission-president (last accessed on 26 July 2020).

the Presidency of the European Commission followed by an analysis of the Spitzenkanidat procedure in the run-up towards the 2019 Elections, including an overview on the parties' nomination procedures. The third part of this chapter analyses the 2019 European electoral campaign.

1.1. The evolution of the appointment mechanisms for the Presidency of the European Commission and an overview of the former Presidents of the European Commission.

The treaty establishing the European Community of Steel and Coal foresaw a rather complicated procedure concerning the Presidency of the High Authority. Article 11 of the Treaty stated that the President and the three Vice Presidents of the Commission should be appointed from among its members for a term of two years following the same procedure as that laid down for the appointment of members of the Commission. Their appointments may be renewed.199 In 1952, Jean Monnet became the first President of the High Authority of the ECSC. His appointment was something like a foregone conclusion. He was replaced by René Mayer, whose appointment was a matter of continuity and overshadowed by the creation of the European Commission. 200

According to article 161 of the Treaty of Rome, the President and two Vice Presidents of the Commission were to be appointed from among its members for a term of two years following the same procedure as that laid down for the appointment of members of the Commission.201 Under article 158 of the Treaty of Rome members of the Commission were to be appointed by the Member States acting in common agreement. 202 The procedure was taken over directly from the Treaty establishing the European Community of Steel and Coal, except that there was no such thing as a foregone conclusion. Hallstein succeeded Mayer. After that, the Presidency was held by Rey, Malfatti, Mansholt, Ortoli, Jenkins and Thorn.203

Thorn's successor was Jacques Delors. His appointment was unique. First of all, Delors was not a candidate for the post of President of the European Commission, and according to the protocol, it was the German's turn for the Presidency.204 But Chancellor Kohl was prepared to give up the German Presidency in favour of

199 Article 11 Treaty establising the European Community of Steal and Coal. 200 M. WESTLAKE, The Longer-Term Trends Leading to the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ procedure, LSE in ‘Europe in Question’ Discussion Paper Series, No.102/2016, 2016, 25. 201 Article 161 Treaty of Rome 202 Article 158 Treaty of Rome 203 M. WESTLAKE, The Longer-Term Trends Leading to the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ procedure, LSE in ‘Europe in Question’ Discussion Paper Series, No.102/2016, 2016, 10. 204 Transcription of the interview with Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, conducted by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE), Paris, 16 December 2009, 2.

a French Presidency. Not just a French Presidency, it should have been Delors and no one else. But Delors had to keep that for himself. During a meeting between Mitterrand and Kohl, on 28 May 1984 in Paris, Mitterrand had told Kohl if the Germans did not have a candidate, he would suggest Cheysson or Delors. Margret Thatcher also supported Delors as President of the European Commission, and she would not accept Cheysson as President. Jacques Delors became President of the Commission, and his term was renewed twice. During the Presidency of Delors, the Maastricht Treaty entered into force. This Treaty, required for the first time, that the Member States consulted the European Parliament before they nominate the person to be appointed as President of the European Commission.205 Article 158 of this Treaty empowered the role of the President of the European Commission as it gave the article the President a consultative role in the nomination of the other members of the Commission. 206

Santer succeeded Delors. His appointment appeared to be anything but straightforward. Santer, who initially did not want the job, became by default President of the European Commission. In 1994, it was the turn of the Benelux countries to fill the post. The Dutch Prime Minister, Ruud Lubbers, stood candidate for the Presidency and was even considered to be the front-runner. But this was prevented by Kohl. He vetoed the candidature of Ruud Lubbers. The France-German choice was Jean-Luc Dehaene, but John Major vetoed his candidature. By default, the job of President of the European Commission fell into the hands of Santer. 207 His Commission waited for an unfortunate fate.

The conditions of its appointment weakened the Santer Commission. The European Parliament exercised its new right under the Maastricht Treaty and voted on the approval of Santer's Presidency of the European Commission.208 Santer scraped through with a mere 20 vote majority. 209 The European Parliament used this voting more as a protest about the way the nomination procedure had been handled than a criticism of the quality of Santer's candidature itself.210 Eventually, the Santer Commission was approved by the Council on 23 January 1995 for the period 1995-1999. But on 15 March 1999, the Santer Commission resigned collectively under the pressure of the European Parliament. The crisis was triggered by the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament, which had to decide on budgetary discharge to the Commission. 211

205 Article 158 Maastricht Treaty. 206 Article 158 Maastricht Treaty. 207 Santer’s Missing Teeth, The Economist, 8 January 1998, https://www.economist.com/europe/1998/01/08/santers- missing-teeth. 208 Article 158 Maastricht Treaty. 209 P.GERBET, The Crisis of the Santer Commission, CVCE, 2016, 2. 210 M. WESTLAKE, The Longer-Term Trends Leading to the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ procedure, LSE in ‘Europe in Question’ Discussion Paper Series, No.102/2016, 2016, 30. 211 A.TOPAN, The resignation of the Santer-Commission: the impact of ‘trust’ and ‘reputation’, European Integration online Papers, vol.6, no.14, 2002.

A special report submitted by the European Court of Auditors caused the Parliament to postpone the discharge on 31st March 1998 until the European Commission would supply additional information. On 31st March 1998, the European Parliament refused to discharge the budget. The European Parliament had deep concerns about the many problems in nearly all categories of the budget.212

On 17 December 1998, the Parliament once more refused to discharge and brought a vote of no confidence.213 Eventually, this developed into a full-blown crisis in the four last months of the Commission. A highly politized atmosphere has generated between the European Parliament and the European Commission due to accusations of fraud, nepotism and mismanagement of aid funds.214 The European Commission of Santer resigned eventually in 1999.

After the Santer debacle, Romano Prodi was appointed in March 1999 under the Amsterdam Treaty. Article 214 of the Treaty stipulates the governments of the Member States shall nominate by common accord the person they intend to appoint as President of the Commission. The European Parliament shall approve the nomination.215 The Prodi Commission undertook a massive programme of administrative and budgetary reform and welcomed the big-bang enlargement of 2004.216

The Barroso Commission followed the Prodi Commission. But before the Barroso Commission took office the so-called 'Barroso saga' took place. Italy's European Commission nominee faced opposition from the European Parliament over his views on homosexuality and women. Members of the European Parliament had even threatened to veto the proposed commission if Mr Buttiglione stayed. Eventually, Mr Buttiglione decided to stand aside. He called himself afterwards an innocent victim of an orchestrated campaign. Eventually, the European Parliament approved the Barroso Commission on 22 November 2004, and it stayed in office until 31 October 2014.217

212 European Parliament, Resolution on the accounts of the European Communities in respect of the 1996 financial year, OJ L 168, 3 July 1999, 14-18. 213 A.TOPAN, The resignation of the Santer-Commission: the impact of ‘trust’ and ‘reputation’, European Integration online Papers, vol.6, no.14, 2002. 214 N.F.RINGE, The Santer Commission Resignation Crisis: Government- Opposition Dynamics in Executive- Legislative Relations of the EU, University of Pittsburgh, 2003, 1-4. 215 Article 214 Treaty of Amsterdam. 216 M. WESTLAKE, The Longer-Term Trends Leading to the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ procedure, LSE in ‘Europe in Question’ Discussion Paper Series, No.102/2016, 2016, 32. 217 European Parliament Research Service Blog, From Santer to Barroso: How strongly the EP supported them?, , 2014, https://epthinktank.eu/2014/10/25/from-santer-to-barroso-how-strongly-ep-supported-them/ (last accessed on 5 August 2020).

Since the Treaty of Nice, the President of the European Commission shall no longer be nominated by common accord, only a qualified majority is required.218

1.2. The Nomination of the President of the Commission since the Lisbon Treaty

The Lisbon Treaty brought further change to the election of the President of the Commission. It should be noted that the changes arising from the Lisbon Treaty are not an outcome from a sudden change, but rather the result of a gradual process. These changes need to be placed in the context of a long term of continuous treaty reform, as seen above.219

Article 17(7) Treaty on the European Union requires the European Council to propose a candidate for Commission President, taking into account the elections to the European Parliament and after having held the appropriate consultations. The proposed candidate is then to be elected by the European Parliament by a majority of its component members (376 of 751 votes and 353 of 705 votes post-Brexit). The European Parliament and the European Council are jointly responsible for the smooth running of the process leading to the Commission President. 220 As the Lisbon Treaty entered into force in 2009, the European Parliament elections of 2014 were the first elections held under the new provisions.

Before the European Parliament elections of 2014, the former President of the European Commission Barroso expressed his opinion on the nominations of a lead candidate for the President of the European Commission. He considers the presence of a candidate for the post of President of the European Commission by the political parties at European level to be an important means to deepen the pan-European political debate. He called on the political parties at European level to commit this step and thus to further Europeanize these European Parliament elections. Barroso underlined the importance of a strengthened European Parliament. 221 The Commission adopted a proposal for a better statute for political parties at European level. This proposal was backed by Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič who said truly political parties at European level are key to articulating the voices of the citizens of the European Union. They play a central role in the debate on

218 Article 214 (2) TEU, as amended by the Nice Treaty. 219 T. CHRISTIANSEN, After the Spitzenkandidaten: fundamental change in the EU’s political system?, West European Politics, 2016, 994. 220 Declaration 11 on article 17(6) and 17(7) TEU. 221 European Commission, José Manuel Durao Barrosso President of the European Commission State of the Union 2012, 12 September 2012, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_12_596, (last accessed 13 April 2020).

European issues which given the 2014 European elections, promises to be lively in the years to come. This ambitious proposal is an essential step toward consolidating European democracy.222

In November 2012, the European Parliament urged in a resolution the political parties at European level to nominate candidates for the Presidency of the Commission. Those candidates would play a leading role in the campaign of the European Parliament Elections. The European Parliament also expressed that the candidate put forward by the European political party at European level that wins the most seats in the European Parliament will be the first to be considered.223

On 12 March 2013, the European Commission adopted a recommendation on enhancing the democratic legitimacy of the European Union. The recommendation was addressed to the national political parties as well as to the political parties at European level. According to this recommendation, political parties at European level should, which is also in compliance with the Resolution of 22 November 2012 on Elections to the European Parliament in 2014, nominate candidates for President of the Commission. 224 The Commission highlighted the nomination of the candidates for President of the Commission as an important step to foster a genuine European political sphere. It would make the link between the individual vote of a citizen of the Union for a political party and the candidate for President of the Commission visible and concrete. The nomination of a candidate for President of the Commission should increase the legitimacy and accountability.225 Besides, this recommendation stated that the political parties at European level, before the elections, have to inform the citizens of the European Union of the affiliation between national political parties and the political parties at European level.226 The European Commission also considers that it is better to have a common European voting day with polling stations closing at the same time.227 According to the European Commission press release it was stated that "the proposals aim to better inform voters about the issues at stake in next year's European Parliament elections, encourage a Europe-wide debate and ultimately improve voter turnout". 228

222 European Commission, New role for political parties to make European elections truly European, 12 September 2012, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_12_951, (last accessed on 13 April 2020) 223 European Parliament, Resolution on the election to the European Parliament in 2014, 2012/2829, 22 November 2012. 224 European Commission, Commission Recommendation on enhancing the democratic and efficient conduct of the elections to the European Parliament, OJ L 79/29, 2013. 225 European Commission, Commission Recommendation on enhancing the democratic and efficient conduct of the elections to the European Parliament, OJ L 79/29, 2013. 226 European Commission, Commission Recommendation on enhancing the democratic and efficient conduct of the elections to the European Parliament, OJ L 79/29, 2013. 227 European Commission, Commission Recommendation on enhancing the democratic and efficient conduct of the elections to the European Parliament, OJ L 79/29, 2013. 228 European Commission, 2014 European Parliament Elections: Commission recommends that

The citizens of the European Union share this vision. According to the Eurobarometer 364, 62% of the citizens believed voter-turnout would increase when the European Parliament elections were held in one day instead of four days. According to this survey, the same proportion (62%) think if political parties at European level proposed a candidate for the role of President of the European Commission, then more people would turn out to vote. Besides, 84% agree that voter turnout at European elections would be higher if more information were provided on the European Parliament elections. The same proportion believes voter turnout would increase when more information on the impact of the European Union on their daily life, and the programmes and objectives of candidates and parties in the European Parliament was provided.229

Eventually, following the Recommendation, five political parties at European level had put forward their leading candidate(s) for the 2014 European Parliament elections. Section 1.4 of this chapter provides an overview of the candidate selections of 2019 compared to the procedures of 2014.

The 2014 European Parliament elections took place from 22-25 May 2014. Taking into account voter turnout declined to 42.54%, the lowest voter turnout ever, the question immediately arose whether or not the Spitzenkandidat procedure made a significant change.

Overall, academic articles conclude no major change has been brought with the introduction of the Spitzenkandidat procedure. CHRISTIANSEN, for example, argued that neither pre-election campaign nor post-election decision-making delivered greater party competition or a genuine choice between the political programmes. The introduction of the Spitzenkandidat procedure has been characterized, he argues, by a mismatch between, on the one hand, the promise of a correct choice between rival candidates and a more competitive party system in the EP, and, on the other hand, the continuation of long-term trends in EU politics.230

The results of the Eurobarometer (October 2014) showed that voters consider, more than ever, their vote counts. This percentage boosted by 13% since the Eurobarometer of 2013. However, only 5% was aware that

political parties nominate candidate for Commission President, http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-215_en.htm (last accessed on 13 April 2020). 229 TNS Political and Social , Flash Eurobarometer 364- Electoral Rights, 2013, 25-26, https://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/FLASH/surveyKy /1041 (last accessed on 13 April 2020). 230 T. CHRISTIANSEN, After the Spitzenkandidaten: A fundamental change in the EU’s political system, West European Politics, vol. 39, no.5, 2016, 1007.

by casting their vote they could be deciding on the future of the Commission's President.231 Hence, the task of political parties at European level for the next European elections of 2019, was evident.

Political parties at European level needed to mark new democratic gains by involving citizens more directly in the choice of the Commission's President and voters needed to be aware of the impact of their vote. Therefore it was expected political parties at European level would further professionalize their selection procedures and start the process earlier with more high profile politicians to stand as a candidate in 2019.

1.3. The Spitzenkandidat Procedure in the 2019 European Parliament Elections

In 2018 the European Parliament decided to repeat the election of the President of the Commission by the Spitzenkandidat procedure. It thereby recalls that the Spitzenkandidat procedure fosters the political awareness of the European citizens and acknowledges the added value of the Spitzenkandidat procedure in the goal of a strengthening of the political nature of the Commission.232 The European Parliament encouraged political parties at European level to nominate their lead candidates through an open, transparent and democratic competition. The revision of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission clearly stated that the European Parliament is ready to reject every any contender for EU Commission President who is not nominated as a lead candidate ahead of the 2019 EU elections.233

Jean-Claude Juncker, former President of the European Commission, supported the repetition of the Spitzenkandidat procedure stating: "If you want to strengthen European democracy, then you cannot reverse the small democratic progress seen with the creation of lead candidates – 'Spitzenkandidaten'. I would like the experience to be repeated".234 He reinforced his support to the procedure in his State of the Union of 2018 stating: "I would like next year's elections to be a landmark for European democracy. I would like to see the Spitzenkandidaten process – that small step forward for European democracy – repeated.235

231 Eurobarometer Standard 81. 232 European Parliament, European Parliament decision of 7 February 2018 on the revision of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission (2017/2233(ACI)), 3-4, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2018-0030_EN.pdf. 233 European Parliament, European Parliament decision of 7 February 2018 on the revision of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission (2017/2233(ACI)), 3-4, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2018-0030_EN.pdf. 234 Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission in the 2017 State of the Union address, Strasbourg, 13 September 2017. 235 Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission in the 2018 State of the Union address, Strasbourg, 12 September 2018.

In its communication of 13 February 2018, the European Commission recommended European and national political parties to announce well ahead of the start of the electoral campaign, ideally by the end of 2018, the candidate for President of the Commission they support and, ideally by early 2019, the candidate's programme. The Commission suggested the Spitzenkandidat procedure had an overall positive effect on the relationship between the EU institutions and thus the efficiency of the work of all of them and should be continued.236 It highlights this procedure as an important step to foster a genuine European political sphere. Ahead of the meeting of the European Council on 23 February 2018, Jean-Claude Juncker sent a clear message to the EU leaders asking them to stand by this "tiny piece of democratic progress" and warning against creating a conflict between Parliament and the Council". "We have to be sure we can bring about the success in 2019, ensure that we wrap things up for 2019. We need to be standing by our Spitzenkandidaten system: It is about the democratic fabric of the EU."237

Donald Tusk, the European Council's President, noted ahead of the European Council's meeting "that the European Council cannot deprive itself of its prerogative to choose the person it proposes as President of the European Commission without a change of the Treaty". He, therefore, asked the Member States whether or not the European Council should automatically accept the outcome of a 'Spitzenkandidaten' process or should the European Council autonomously decide how to take account of the elections, having held appropriate consultations?238

The European Council's meeting took place on 23 February 2018. Afterwards, Tusk announced "there is no automaticity in this process. The Treaty is very clear that it is the autonomous competence of the European Council to nominate the candidate while taking into account the European elections, and having held appropriate consultations."239

Eventually, ahead of the 2019 European Parliament elections, the European institutions held different views on the Spitzenkandidat procedure. The European Parliament stood ready to reject any candidate who was not

236 European Commission, A Europe that delivers: Institutional options for making the European Union's work more efficient, COM(2018) 95 final, 13 February 2018, 4, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta- political/files/communication-institutional-options-for-making-the-european-union-work-more-efficient_en.pdf (last accessed on 2 May 2020). 237 D. VINCENTI, “MEP’s and EU leaders on collision course over Spitzenkandidaten process”, EURACTIV, 7 February 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/meps-and-eu-leaders-on-collision-course-over- spitzenkandidaten-process/1211285/ (last accessed 2 May 2020). 238 European Council, Leader’s Agenda, February 2018, 1-2. 239 European Council, Informal meeting of the 27 heads of state or government: Main results, 23 February 2018, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2018/02/23/.

appointed as a Spitzenkandidat240 . In contrast, the European Council considered it an autonomous competence of the European Council to nominate the candidate while taking into account the European elections and having held appropriate consultations.241 The European Commission argues the Spitzenkandidat procedure had an overall positive impact on the European institutions and it should be continued and improved.242 These different views will ultimately have consequences in the election of the current President of the Commission.

1.4. The Candidates Selection by the European Political Parties at European level for the 2019 European Parliament Elections

In the run-up towards the European electoral campaign of 2014 five political parties at European level nominated, for the first time, their lead candidate. As this was the first time, this procedure was applied, political parties at European level needed to invent new candidate selection procedures in a rather short time. The easiest way to do so appeared to be to copy-paste the internal, existing procedures of the political parties organised at European level. The novel candidate selections procedures were, by consequent, very similar to the already existing decision-making practices of the political parties organised at European level.243 The Spitzenkandidat procedure was the first form of political recruitment at European level.

Eventually, five political parties at European level nominated a leading candidate for the 2014 Parliament elections. In 2019, seven political parties at European level selected their lead candidates for the European Parliament elections. The following paragraphs provide an overview of the candidate selections of 2019 compared to the procedures of 2014. The European's People Party

The selection procedure of the lead candidate for the 2019 elections was determined on the EPP's Political Assembly in April and September 2018. The procedure itself did not change substantially compared to the 2014 European Parliament elections. A candidate needs the support of his or her member party and a

240 European Parliament, European Parliament decision of 7 February 2018 on the revision of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission (2017/2233(ACI)), 3-4, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2018-0030_EN.pdf. 241European Council, Informal meeting of the 27 heads of state or government: Main results, 23 February 2018, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2018/02/23/ 242 European Commission, A Europe that delivers: Institutional options for making the European Union's work more efficient, COM(2018) 95 final, 13 February 2018, 4, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta- political/files/communication-institutional-options-for-making-the-european-union-work-more-efficient_en.pdf (last accessed on 2 May 2020). 243 G.-J. PUT, S. VAN HECKE, C. CUNNINGHAM and W. WOLFS, The Choice of the Spitzenkandidaten: A Compartive Analysis of the Europarties’ Selection Procedures, Politics and Governance, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2016, 10.

maximum of two additional member parties from two EU countries other than the country of origin of the candidate.244 Only the presidents or the secretaries-general of the member parties were entitled to nominate or endorse a candidate.245

With the ceiling of three supporting member states, the EPP tries to avoid a race between the candidates to have the support of as many member parties as possible, as it is for the leading candidate of the ALDE Party. On the other hand, the EPP wanted to avoid one candidate as it would become clear where he/she lacks support.246

Candidacies are subjected to the votes of the delegates during the EPP Electoral Congress. The candidate that received the absolute majority of votes of the delegates on the EPP's electoral congress was nominated as the EPP's candidate for Commission President.247 In this perspective, the voting procedure did not change compared to the voting procedure of 2014. Eventually, there were 758 delegates of the 49 EPP member parties, 6 associate member parties, 6 member associations, 14 individual MEP and delegates from European and International institutions tasked with determining the EPP's candidate for Commission President.248 The only thing that did change compared to the selection procedure of 2014 is the timeline. The first change was that the period between the opening of the submission of the candidacies and the vote on the Electoral progress was made longer. The call for candidacies was opened on 6 September 2018, and the candidates had time until 17 October 2018 to gain the necessary support. Eventually, on 8 November 2018, the candidatures were submitted to the vote on the EPP Congress. In 2014, the EPP was the last party to present a common candidate for the presidency of the Commission of the European Commission. The call for candidacies was opened on 13 February 2014 until 5 March 2014. Juncker was elected on 7 March 2014 as the EPP's candidate for the Commission President.

244 European People’s Party, Voting Regulation Adopted by the EPP Political Assembly 6-7 September 2018, Helsinki, 7-8 November 2018, https://helsinki2018.epp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EN_Voting-Regulation-Helsinki- 2018.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 245 European People’s Party, Press release: Political Assembly unveils EPP Congress preparations and opens the Spitzenkandidat application procedure; adopts resolution on Libya, Brussels, 7 September 2018, https://www.epp.eu/press-releases/political-assembly-unveils-epp-congress-preparations-and-opens-the- spitzenkandidat-application-procedure-adopts-resolution-on-libya/ (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 246 G.-J. PUT, S. VAN HECKE, C. CUNNINGHAM and W. WOLFS, The Choice of the Spitzenkandidaten: A Compartive Analysis of the Europarties’ Selection Procedures, Politics and Governance, Vol.4, Issue 1, 2016, 14. 247 European People’s Party, Voting Regulation Adopted by the EPP Political Assembly 6-7 September 2018, Helsinki, 7-8 November 2018, https://helsinki2018.epp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EN_Voting-Regulation-Helsinki- 2018.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020) 248 European People’s Party, EPP Congress Helsinki 2018: Votes per delegation as approved by the Political Assembly on 4-5 June 2018, Helsinki, 26 October 2018, https://helsinki2018.epp.eu/wp- content/uploads/2018/10/Congress-Composition.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020).

The second change has been that the entire time table was brought forward a couple of months. As abovementioned, Juncker had been nominated in March, only two months before the European Parliament elections of 2014. The EPP followed the Commission's recommendation and nominated its candidate before the end of 2018.249 Consequently, the EPP's electoral manifesto was only decided in 2019. The nominated candidate had the opportunity to gather input from the member states. The EPP's electoral manifesto in 2014 was already decided when the Juncker was put forward as a candidate.

Eventually, two candidates gained the required support: Manfred Weber and Alexander Stubb. Weber was supported by seven of the eight EPP heads of state. Only Viktor Orban refused to endorse Weber.250 Eventually, it was Weber who secured the nomination at the party congress in Helsinki. On the electoral Congress, 492 of the 619 (79.5%) valid votes were in favour of Weber, only 127 delegates (20.5%) voted for Stubb.251 Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party

The Spitzenkandidaten procedure received mixed evaluation within the ALDE Party. The Party considers the procedure as a sufficient instrument to bring the European citizens closer to the European Union. However, the ALDE Party believes this procedure is not a real process as a lead candidate doesn't need to stand for election in any election in any EU Member State, as it was with Juncker who was not a candidate in his home country Luxembourg.252

In 2014, the nomination of a lead candidate was a competence of the Bureau as the nomination of a lead candidate was not foreseen in the party's statute.253 Eventually, the party Bureau decided to open the process to elect the ALDE Party's candidate for President of the Commission. In this process, all delegates could vote. Candidates had to be formally nominated by at least two member parties from more than one member state or by 20% of ALDE Party Congress voting delegates. Candidates do not have to have the support of his

249 European People’s Party, Voting Regulation Adopted by the EPP Political Assembly 6-7 September 2018, Helsinki, 7-8 November 2018, https://helsinki2018.epp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EN_Voting-Regulation-Helsinki- 2018.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 250 M. DE LA BAUME, Manfred Weber gets support for Commission top job from EPP leaders, Politico, 17 October 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/manfred-weber-commission-president-support-epp-spitzenkandidat/ (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 251 European People’s Party, EPP Congress Helsinki 2018: Votes per delegation as approved by the Political Assembly on 4-5 June 2018, Helsinki, 26 October 2018, https://helsinki2018.epp.eu/wp- content/uploads/2018/10/Congress-Composition.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 252 D.M. HERSZENHORN and M. DE LA BAUME, Last Rites for Spitzenkandidat, Politico, 27 September 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/spitzenkandidat-last-rites-dying-system-european-commission-president/ (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 253 A. BLANCH, A President for Europe? The elections of 2014 in response to European democratic crisis, European Good Practices, 2014, 43.

or her national member party.254 Two candidates stepped forward, Olli Rehn and Guy Verhofstadt. On 20 January 2014, the two candidates reached an agreement cancelling their expected competition as ALDE Party's candidates for President of the Commission. Verhofstadt would run as a candidate for President of the Commission and Rehn would run for one of the other senior EU posts in economic or foreign affairs.255 As a result, the ALDE Party simply could approve or disapprove the agreement. Eventually, of the 388 delegates, 245 approved the compromise in Verhofstadt's favour (79.3%), 44 disapproved (14.2%), and 20 delegates abstained (6.5%).256

In 2015, the statutes were amended stipulating that the election of common top candidates for the European elections is a power strictly reserved to the Congress.257 Only full member parties and individual members from the EU Member States can vote for the election of the lead candidate.258

As abovementioned, reservations about the Spitzenkandidaten procedure remained a point of discussion within the ALDE Party. And yet, the ALDE Party decided to nominate a lead candidate for the European Parliament elections of 2019. As many within the ALDE Party shared Verhofstadt's position that a Spitzenkandidaten procedure without transnational lists would mean the ALDE Party would be locked in a system mainly favourable for the EPP, the idea grew to move away from one lead candidate. During the ALDE Party Council Meeting Madrid in 2018, the party decided to run the electoral campaign with a team of candidates.259 The ALDE President Hans van Baalen announced: "We decided that we will not nominate a man of a certain age. We are going to have a campaign about ideas". 260 On 21 March 2019, Hans van Baalen presented his "Team Europe" consisting out of seven politicians: Nicola Beer, Emma Bonino, Violeta

254 G.-J. PUT, S. VAN HECKE, C. CUNNINGHAM and W. WOLFS, The Choice of the Spitzenkandidaten: A Compartive Analysis of the Europarties’ Selection Procedures, Politics and Governance, Vol.4, Issue 1, 2016, 15. 255 D. VINCENTI, Rehn clears way for Verhofstadt to lead the Liberal’s election campaign, Euractiv, 21 January 2014, https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2014/news/rehn-clears-way-for-verhofstadt-to-lead-liberal-s- election-campaign/ (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 256 G.-J. PUT, S. VAN HECKE, C. CUNNINGHAM and W. WOLFS, The Choice of the Spitzenkandidaten: A Compartive Analysis of the Europarties’ Selection Procedures, Politics and Governance, Vol.4, Issue 1, 2016, 16. 257 Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, Statutes of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, Warsaw, 1-3 December 2016, https://www.aldeparty.eu/sites/alde/files/alde_statutes_european_party2016_adopted.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 258 Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, Internal Regulations of the ALDE Party, Greece, 25 October 2019, https://www.aldeparty.eu/sites/alde/files/00-Pages/10/alde-party-internal-regulations-adopted19.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 259 Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, Press Release, 9 November 2018, https://www.aldeparty.eu/press-releases/european-liberals-present-campaign-team-2019-elections (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 260 M. DE LA BAUME, Liberals to present a slate of candidates for top EU jobs, Politico, 9 November 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/alde-liberals-to-present-slate-of-candidates-margrethe-vestager-vera-jourova-guy- verhofstadt-for-top-eu-jobs/ (last accessed on 3 May 2020).

Bulc, Katalin Cseh, Luis Garicano, Guy Verhofstadt and Margrethe Vestager.261 On the election night, 26 May 2019, Margrethe Vestager presented herself as ALDE's leading candidate.262

Party of the European Socialists

Within the Party of the European Socialists, the Spitzenkandidaten procedure was positively evaluated.263 In 2014, a special 'Working Group Common Candidate 2014' was established. In analogy, a special 'Working Group Common Candidate 2019' was set up the PES Council. The Working Group, consisting out of delegates from all member parties and organizations worked out the electoral timeline procedure to elect the PES' candidate for President of the Commission.264

The nomination process, prepared by the Working Group Common Candidate, was approved by the PES Presidency in June 2018.265 The approved nomination process once more echoed the ambition of the PES to win the next European Parliament elections and to have their common candidate elected as the next European Commission President in 2019.266 Regarding the nomination process, the most significant change in comparison with the nomination process for the European Parliament elections of 2014, was the higher threshold. Where candidates during the election process of 2014 only required the support of 15 per cent of the member parties, candidates for 2019 needed to have the support of 25 per cent of the member parties. 267

261 Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, Press Release: Team Europa, seven leaders to renew Europe, 21 March 2019, https://www.aldeparty.eu/news/team-europe-seven-leaders-renew-europe (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 262 P. DE WILDE, The Fall of the Spitzenkandidaten: Political Parties and Conflict in the 2019 European Elections, in Kritzinger, S., C. Plescia, K. Raube, J. Wilhelm and J. Wouters (Eds), Assessing the 2019 European Parliament Elections, Abingdon: Routledge, 2020, Chapter 3, 33-53, 6. 263 Party of the European Socialists, News: Progressive European Affairs Ministers in favor of Common Candidate, 24 April 2016, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/Progressive-European-Affairs-Ministers-in-favor-of- Common-Candidate ( last accessed on 3 May 2020). 264 Party of the European Socialists, PES Council Resolution: PES 2019 Common Candidate in 2019 Roadmap, Lisbon, 1 December 2017, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/Downloads/PES-Documents/FInal-EN-PES-2019- Common-Candidate-resolution.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 265 Party of the European Socialists, Selecting the PES Common Candidate in 2019, Brussels, 20 June 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/.galleries/Documents-gallery/PES-FINAL-COMMON-CANDIDATE- 2019.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 266 Party of the European Socialists, PES roadmap toward 2019, Budapest, 12 and 13 June 2015, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/Downloads/PES-Documents/FINAL_PES_Roadmap_2019- EN.pdf_1943303196.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 267 Party of the European Socialists, Selecting the PES Common Candidate in 2019, Brussels, 20 June 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/.galleries/Documents-gallery/PES-FINAL-COMMON-CANDIDATE- 2019.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020).

A member party can only support one candidate. This involves that a candidate needs 9 parties/organizations: one nominating him/her and 8 supporting this candidate.268

The PES' candidate for President of the Commission shall be nominated on the PES Elections Congress, where each member party and organization have a number of delegates, depending on their representation in the national and European Parliament, and the size of the country.269 Each member party could determine how their delegates would vote according to its internal decision-making methodology. The results of the internal decision-making process would be made public on the PES European Election Day. For the European Parliament elections of 2019, the PES European Election Day took place 1 December 2018, one week before the PES Elections Congress.270

Compared to the European Parliament elections of 2014, the nomination process started a few weeks earlier. Martin Schulz had been nominated as a candidate in March 2014.271 Consequently, there was no much time left for the preparation of the electoral campaign. For the European Parliament elections of 2019, the PES had set out a new timeline. The call for candidatures was opened at 1 October 2018 and closed on 18 October 2018.272 By this day, two candidates had gathered sufficient letters of nominations by the member parties: Frans Timmermans and Maros Sefcovic.273 Maros Sefcovic eventually dropped out of the race.274 The PES united behind Timmermans as the lead candidate for the European Parliament elections of 2019.

268 Party of the European Socialist, Selecting the PES Common Candidate in 2019, Brussels, 20 June 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/.galleries/Documents-gallery/PES-FINAL-COMMON-CANDIDATE- 2019.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 269 Party of the European Socialist, PES Statutes, Budapest, 12 and 13 June 2015, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/Downloads/PES- Documents/FINAL_amended_PES_Statutes_EN_clean.pdf_64645215.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 270 Party of the European Socialist, Selecting the PES Common Candidate in 2019, Brussels, 20 June 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/.galleries/Documents-gallery/PES-FINAL-COMMON-CANDIDATE- 2019.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 271 Party of the European Socialist, European Socialists Elect Martin Schulz as candidate for the Commission President, 1 March 2014, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/European-Socialists-Elect-Martin-Schulz- as-Candidate-for-Commission-President (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 272 Party of the European Socialist, Selecting the PES Common Candidate in 2019, Brussels, 20 June 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/.galleries/Documents-gallery/PES-FINAL-COMMON-CANDIDATE- 2019.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 273 Party of the European Socialist, PES lining up for 2019 elections with strong nominees for common candidate, 17 October 2018, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/PES-lining-up-for-2019-elections-with-strong- nominees-for-common-candidate/ (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 274 F. EDER, Maros Sefcovic withdraws from Socialist race for Commission top job, Politico, 5 November 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/maros-sefcovic-withdraws-from-socialist-race-for-commission-top-job/ (last accessed on 5 May 2020).

Consequently, the PES did not organize a Europe-wide Election Day as was foreseen. In the Lisbon Congress on 8 December 2018, the PES endorsed Frans Timmermans as its lead candidate for the President of the Commission.275 So, also the PES followed the Commission Recommendation by nominating its lead candidate at the end of 2018.

European Green Party

In the run-up to the European Parliament elections of 2014, the candidate selection procedure stated that any European Green politician with ambition to run as EGP's candidate for President of the Commission should be nominated by his/her member party and should receive the support from at least four to a maximum of eight of the 33 EGP member parties.276 Every member party had the right to support one candidate. Eventually, four European Greens were entering confirmed as EGP contenders.277 Afterwards, these four candidates contested in an open online primary for the position of Green lead candidate.278 The EGP hoped the primary would generate enthusiasm among traditional voters and encourage new supporters. The online primary was a historical event as the EGP was the first party to hold an open, and online primary.279 Unfortunately, participation in the open online primary was rather low. In total, 22 676 people participated in the online primary. The two winners of the Primary, José and Ska, eventually became the EGP's candidates for President of the Commission.280

In May 2018, the EGP Council decided the EGP would participate in the European Parliament elections of 2019. The Spitzenkandidaten procedure, in general, have been evaluated positively by the EGP. The EGP considers the Spitzenkandidaten procedure as a way of creating more transparency regarding the political

275 Party of the European Socialist, Frans Timmermans launches campaign to become the President of the European Commission in Lisbon, Lisbon, 8 December 2018, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/Frans- Timmermans-launches-campaign-to-become-President-of-the-European-Commission-in-Lisbon/ (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 276 G.-J. PUT, S. VAN HECKE, C. CUNNINGHAM and W. WOLFS, The Choice of the Spitzenkandidaten: A Compartive Analysis of the Europarties’ Selection Procedures, Politics and Governance, Vol.4, Issue 1, 2016, 16. 277 X., Greens select four candidates to run in primaries ahead of 2014 elections, Euractiv, 8 November 2013, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/news/greens-select-four-candidates-to-run-in-primaries-ahead-of-2014- elections/ ( last accessed on 3 May 2020). 278 G.-J. PUT, S. VAN HECKE, C. CUNNINGHAM and W. WOLFS, The Choice of the Spitzenkandidaten: A Compartive Analysis of the Europarties’ Selection Procedures, Politics and Governance, Vol.4, Issue 1, 2016, 16. 279 European Green Party, Ska Keller and José Bové Will Lead the Greens in Their European Campaign, 2014, https://europeangreens.eu/news/press-release-greens-select-leading-candidates (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 280 European Green Party, Annex to the Political Evaluation of the Common Campaign 2014 European elections, Istanbul, 7-9 November 2014, https://europeangreens.eu/sites/europeangreens.eu/files/Annex%20for%20info%20- %20Evaluation%20Green%20Primary.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020).

alternatives of the other political parties at European level.281 In the run-up towards the European Parliament elections of 2019 decided not to repeat the open online primary. The EGP Committee would open the call for contenders on 8 June 2018. The EGP Council decided that the EGP would participate with two lead candidates of which at least one is eligible for election to the election of the European Parliament. Member states had to consent to the participation of the contenders they nominate explicitly. Member parties were also allowed to put forward a non-member as a leading candidate.282 The second step in the selection procedure has been that the candidates gained an additional two weeks to gain the support of five additional member parties. Green member parties were allowed to support two candidates. Voting for the Green leading candidate took place during the Autumn Council.

By 14 September 2018, four candidates had been nominated by the member parties: Petra De Sutter, nominated by Groen (Belgium), Bas Eickhout nominated by GroenLinks (Netherlands), Ska Keller nominated by Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (Germany) and Atanas Schmidt nominated by Zelena Partija (Bulgaria).283 Only three of the four candidates gained sufficient support to compete for the two leading candidate positions. The candidacy of Atanas Schmidt fell below the threshold of six-member parties.284 Eventually, the European Green Party elected, on its Berlin Congress of 23-25 November 2018, Ska Keller and Bas Eickhout as their leading candidates for the President of the Commission. Bas Eickhout won the second round from Petra De Sutter by 62 per cent of the votes.285

Party of European Left

The Party of the European Left is a party that suffers from more geographical and electoral imbalances compared to the four abovementioned parties. Very few of their member parties have representatives in the

281 European Green Party, Evaluation of the Common Campaign for the 2014 European Elections, Istanbul, 7-9 November 2014, https://europeangreens.eu/sites/europeangreens.eu/files/Political%20Evaluation%20common%20campaign%202014 %20European%20elections%20-%20EGP%20Istanbul%20Council%2C%207-9%20Nov%202014.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 282 European Green Party, Procedure for the 2019 Green leading candidates – Spitzenkandidaten, Antwerp, 18-20 May 2018, https://europeangreens.eu/sites/europeangreens.eu/files/news/files/2.%20ADOPTED%20Procedure%20for%20EGP% 20leading%20candidates%20as%20adopted%20-%20slightly%20adapted%20-%20changes%20in%20red_0.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 283 European Green Party, Four Greens enter race to become European Green Party leading candidates, Brussels, 17 September 2018, https://europeangreens.eu/content/four-greens-enter-race-become-european-green-party-leading- candidates (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 284 European Green Party, Contenders Green leading candidates, Brussels, 29 September 2018, https://europeangreens.eu/berlin2018/001-contenders-green-leading-candidates (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 285 European Green Party, European Greens elect leading duo, 24 November 2018, https://europeangreens.eu/news/european-greens-elect-leading-duo (last accessed on 3 May 2020).

national parliaments and compared to the four other political parties at European level, the Party of European Left is rather small.286 Therefore, the party considered the nomination of a leading candidate as an opportunity to present the party to a wider audience.287 However, the Council of Chairpersons asserted that presenting a common candidate does not democratize the European Union.288

Eventually, Alexander Tsipras was the only candidate.289 He was elected at the Congress in December 2013. It is to say that the Council of Chairpersons granted itself the power to decide whether or not to present a common candidate and propose a name to the Congress. Between the decision to present a candidate and the Congress, there was no period to present alternatives candidates.290 Every member party had 12 delegates. Consequently, 164 delegates took part in the voting. 84.15% voted in favour of Tsipras, 7.32% against and 8.54% restrained.291 In the run-up towards the European Parliament elections of 2019, the Party of European Left decided that proposals on candidates for President of the Commission could include personalities from outside the European Left.292

At the meeting of the Executive Board of the Party of the European Left on 26-27 January 2019 in Brussels, the leading candidates were voted. Violeta Tomic from Slovenia and the Belgian Nico Cue were elected as the leading candidates of the Party of European Left.293

European Conservatives and Reformists Party

286 G.-J. PUT, S. VAN HECKE, C. CUNNINGHAM and W. WOLFS, The Choice of the Spitzenkandidaten: A Compartive Analysis of the Europarties’ Selection Procedures, Politics and Governance, Vol.4, Issue 1, 2016, 16. 287 Party of European Left, Congress Draft Political Document: Unite for a left alternative in Europe, Madrid, 13-15 December 2013, https://www.european-left.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/political_doc_en.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 288 Party of European Left, European Elections: concerning the Submission of an EL candidacy for the presidency of the European Commission, 21 October 2013, https://www.transform-network.net/blog/article/european-elections- concerning-the-submission-of-an-el-candidacy-for-the-presidency-of-the-european/ (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 289 European Commisson, Report on the 2014 European Parliament elections, 2015, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/com_2015_206_en.pdf (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 290 A. BLANCH, A President for Europe? The elections of 2014 in response to European democratic crisis, European Good Practices, 2014, 30-31. 291 G.-J. PUT, S. VAN HECKE, C. CUNNINGHAM and W. WOLFS, The Choice of the Spitzenkandidaten: A Compartive Analysis of the Europarties’ Selection Procedures, Politics and Governance, Vol.4, Issue 1, 2016, 16. 292 Party of European Left, European Left: Summary of the General Assembly, Brussels, 1 October 2018, https://www.european-left.org/european-left-summary-general-assembly/ (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 293 European Left, Two Candidates From the people to the people, Brussels, 26-27 January 2019, https://www.european-left.org/campaigns/two-candidates-from-the-people-for-the-people/ (last accessed on 4 May 2020).

The European Conservatives and Reformists Party did not appoint a Spitzenkandidat appointed in 2014. 294 The party however considered to put forward a leading candidate but held back at the last moment. They considered participating in the Spitzenkandidaten procedure would be interpreted as endorsing a procedure designed to shift an important power away from the national heads of state or government. The party did not agree with this system as the appointment of a new European Commission president should remain a task of the European Council. Instead, the Spitzenkandidaten procedure would only serve the federalist in their attempt to turn the Commission into a regular government.295

However, the European Conservatives and Reformists party decided to nominate a leading candidate for the 2019 European Parliament elections. By not having a leading candidate in the European Parliament elections of 2014 the party felt excluded from media events and public debates. They did not have the opportunity to communicate on their programme as much as the mainstream parties had.296

On 13 November 2018, the European Conservatives and Reformists Party endorsed Jan Zahdrali as its leading candidate for President of the Commission. This nomination makes Zahdrali the first Eastern European Spitzenkandidat. 297 However, he remained critical towards the Spitzenkandidaten procedure. He emphasizes again that it is the Council who selects the candidate for the President of the Commission and adds the European Conservatives and Reformists Party mainly participates in the Spitzenkandidaten procedure to have the opportunity to sufficiently communicate the party's programme.298

The European Free Alliance Party

294 EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Towards more democratic European Parliament elections Report on the implementation of the Commission's recommendations of 12 March 2013 on enhancing the democratic and efficient conduct of the elections to the European Parliament, COM(2014) 196 final, 27 March 2014, 5, https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2014/EN/1-2014-196-EN-F1-1.Pdf (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 295 The European Conservatives and Reformists Party, Interview with Jan Zahdradil: The EU could be a good servant but is a bad Master, 20 February 2019, https://www.ecrparty.eu/article/the_eu_could_be_a_good_servant_but_is_a_bad_master (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 296 The European Conservatives and Reformists Party, Interview with Jan Zahdradil: The EU could be a good servant but is a bad Master, 20 February 2019, https://www.ecrparty.eu/article/the_eu_could_be_a_good_servant_but_is_a_bad_master (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 297 M. DE LA BAUME, Conservatives endorse Czech MEP for Commission Top Job, 13 November 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/tories-european-allies-endorse-jan-zahradil-for-commission-top-job/ (last accessed 4 May 2020). 298 The European Conservatives and Reformists Party, Interview with Jan Zahdradil: The EU could be a good servant but is a bad Master, 20 February 2019, https://www.ecrparty.eu/article/the_eu_could_be_a_good_servant_but_is_a_bad_master (last accessed on 4 May 2020).

In the run-up towards the European Parliament elections of 2019, the European Free Alliance Party endorsed for the first time its leading candidate for President of the Commission.

On 21 January 2019, the party announced the first Spitzenkandidat in EFA's history will be presented on 7 March 2019, less than three months before the European Parliament elections would take place.299 On the EFA's General Assembly in Brussels delegates from the 45 parties voted on the EFA's leading candidate. The General Assembly takes decisions by a simple majority, and its decisions are binding for all members.300 Eventually, the Catalan leader and for MEP Oriol Junqueras has been designated as the first EFA's leading candidate. The decision has been taken by the General Assembly unanimously. Noteworthy, Junqueras was not able to attend the nomination in Brussels as he was still in prison. He was accused of the crimes of rebellion, revolution, and misuse of public funds for having organised a referendum on self-determination of Catalonia on the first of October 2017.301

Despite being prisoned, Junqueras was entitled to exercise all his political rights as EFA's leading candidate for President of the Commission. Accordingly, he must be allowed to participate in the electoral campaigns and public debates.302

1.5. The Appearances of the Spitzenkandidaten in the 2019 Electoral Campaign.

With the introduction of the Spitzenkandidat procedure, the European electoral campaign gained a new transnational dimension. Lead candidates, once nominated, in cooperation with their political parties launched their campaigns. Consequently, political parties at European level had to organize a real European campaign, and they had to put European-wide topics on the agenda instead of providing some 'European' campaign materials for national campaigns.303

299 The European Free Alliance Party, EFA kicks off election race by launching a procedure to appoint a “Spitzenkandidat”, 21 January 2019, https://www.e-f-a.org/2019/01/21/efa-kicks-off-eu-election-race-by-launching- a-procedure-to-appoint-a-spitzenkandidat/ (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 300 The European Free Alliance Party, Articles of Association, Brussels, 1 June 2006, 10-11, https://www.e-f-a.org/wp- content/uploads/2019/05/AOA-19_FINAL.pdf (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 301 European Free Alliance Party, Orial Junqueras elected as EFA Lead Candidate for European Elections, 7 March 2019, Brussels, https://www.e-f-a.org/2019/03/08/oriol-junqueras-elected-as-efa-lead-candidate-for-upcoming- european-elections/ (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 302 European Free Alliance Party, EFA Lead Candidate must be able to participate in the EU elections campaign, 18 April 2019, https://www.e-f-a.org/2019/04/18/efa-spitzenkandidat-oriol-junqueras-must-be-able-to-participate-in-the- eu-elections-campaign/ (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 303 N. PENALVER- GARCIA, J.PRIESTLEY, European Political Parties: learning from 2014, preparing for 2019, Notre Europe, Jacques Delors Institute, 2015,4.

However, the influence of national parties still plays an important role in the Electoral campaign. The limited recognition and visibility of both the Spitzenkandidat and political parties at European level have been a significant problem. The AFCO Committee took the opportunity to examine a set of possible modifications to the Electoral act.

The Report proposed the quasi-formalization of the Spitzenkandidat procedure. It determines to set a common deadline for the nomination of lead candidates by political parties at European level 12 weeks in advance of the European Parliament elections. The report stated that the visibility of political parties at European level could be enhanced by placing their names and logos on the ballot papers, and recommends that the same should also appear on television and radio campaign broadcasts, posters and other material used in European election campaigns, especially the manifestos of national parties, since those measures would render European elections more transparent and improve the democratic manner in which they are conducted, as citizens will be able to link their vote clearly with the impact it has on the political influence of European political parties and their ability to form political groups in the European Parliament.304 The report was submitted to and adopted by the European Parliament in November 2015. 305

During the legislative process, the Council adopted a draft version on the reform of the Electoral act. Yet, the Council did not agree on the obligation to make the names and logos of political parties at European level on national ballot papers and changed into a possibility for member states.306 Article 3b of the Council Decision states the Member States may allow for the display, on ballot papers, of the name or logo of the European political party to which the national political party or individual candidate is affiliated.307

Eventually, according to a report by the European Parliament, only a minority of member states allowed the display of European party logos on national party ballot papers. 308 17 member states indicated that their national rules do not permit the display of European party logos, 10 member states reported they do so. And

304 European Parliament, Report on the reform of the electoral law of the European Union’ of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Co-rapporteurs Danuta Hübner and Jo Leinen, 2015, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-8-2015-0286_EN.pdf (last accessed on 28 July 2020) 305 European Parliament Research Service, European Union electoral law, 2019, 7. 306 European Parliament Research Service, European Union electoral law: Current situations and historical background, 2019, 3-4. 307 Article 3b Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2018/994 of 13 July 2018 amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 1976. 308 European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee : Report on the 2019 elections to the European Parliament, SWD(2020) 113, 13.

5 member states, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Greece and Ireland, reported that political parties did provide voters with their European affiliation and tried to stimulate the European dimension through their website and campaign.309

The lead candidates found other ways to reach voters beyond their national party affiliation. They participated in debates and paid visits to the other Member States. Manfred Weber, for example, offered his website in all 24 official languages and undertook a tour through Europe, visiting 15 European countries.310

During the 2019 European electoral campaign, three major debates between the lead candidates were held. The first one took in place in Maastricht on 29 April 2019, with five lead candidates - Violeta Tomič from Party of European Left, Frans Timmermans from PES, Bad Eickhout from the Greens, Guy Verhofstadt from ALDE and Jan Zahadril from ECR.311 The second debate, the Florence State of the Union, took place on 3 May 2019 with four leading candidates - Ska Keller from the Greens, Frans Timmermans from PES, Guy Verhofstadt from ALDE and Manfred Weber from EPP. The third debate, the Eurovision debate, took place on 15 May 2019. The debate which brought together six lead candidates- Frans Timmermans, Manfred Weber, Margrethe Vestager, Jan Zahradil, Ska Keller and Nico Cué, was broadcasted live from the European Parliament across Europe. Unfortunately, little competition was detected during the debates. The debates did not generate a lot of contest among the candidates.312

Besides, the role of social media, especially during tv debates, may not be underestimated. A post online can have a larger impact than a physical meeting with a limited amount of people. In an analysis of the Twitter activity during the previously mentioned debate, the Florence debate has generated only around 3000 tweets, the least of all. The Maastricht debate, on the other hand, generated almost the double of tweets. The Eurovision debate gathered, with almost 16 000 tweets, the biggest number of reactions. It should be noted

309 European Commission, Commission Staff working document accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee : Report on the 2019 elections to the European Parliament, COM(2020) 252, 26. 310 Manfred Weber, Listening Tour, https://weber.epp.eu/listening_tour (last accessed 6 August 2020). 311A. BRZOZOWSKI and Z. RODASAVLJEVIC, First Spitzenkandidat debate falls flat, EurActiv, 29 April 2019, https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2019/news/first-spitzenkandidaten-debate-falls-flat/ (last accessed on 6 August 2020). 312 A. BRZOZOWSKI and Z. RODASAVLJEVIC, First Spitzenkandidat debate falls flat, EurActiv, 29 April 2019, https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2019/news/first-spitzenkandidaten-debate-falls-flat/ (last accessed on 6 August 2020).

that these numbers are the total of the official hashtags used. When it comes to actual topics of the debates, the environment dominated the hashtags, followed by two other major issues #Brexit and #Migration. 313 When we shift our attention to the campaign topics, it appeared they became more European in nature than previously. The European Elections Monitoring Center identified, based on 11.000 electoral materials, including posters and social media posts by 418 political parties or candidates, the main campaign issues. According to this study, the most common issue in the 2019 European Parliament election was Europe (15% of all topics):

Figure 2 Source: European Elections Monitoring Center

In the broad category 'Europe', there are several subcategories such as EU economy, treaties and the Euro. The category 'Europe' is followed by values, economics and environment,... It appears surprisingly, migration and security did not dominate the electoral campaigns. 314 Neither did Brexit played a significant role in the European Parliament elections. Within the United Kingdom, it had a major impact. But there is little evidence that Brexit had a major impact anywhere else. The rest of the European Union appeared not to be preoccupied with it. As a result, there were a plethora of issues that structured the campaign.315

313 F. CASTELLI, European Elections 2019: The Spitzenkandidaten process as seen from Twitter, EuVisions, 11 June 2019, http://www.euvisions.eu/europea-elections-2019-spitzenkandidaten-debate-twitter/ (last accessed on 6 August 2020). 314 European Elections Monitoring Center, 2019 European Elections Campaign: images, topics, media in 28 member states, 2019, 20. 315 P. DE WILDE, The Fall of the Spitzenkandidaten: Political Parties and Conflict in the 2019 European Elections, in Kritzinger, S., C. Plescia, K. Raube, J. Wilhelm and J. Wouters (Eds), Assessing the 2019 European Parliament Elections, Abingdon: Routledge, 2020, Chapter 3, 7-8.

1.5.1 Case study: 2019 European Electoral Campaign in Belgium Belgium is one of the founding countries of the European Union and still a pro-European country.316 Since 2014, the European Parliament elections coincide with the federal and regional elections. As voting is compulsory, the voter-turnout of 88.6% is a bad indicator. 317 The 2019 European electoral campaign was not very visible in Belgium. Campaigns for federal and regional elections were predominant. Nevertheless, the competition has been dominated by two European issues: migration and climate. 1.5.1.1.The Electoral System

In 1993, with the fourth state reform, it was decided to make the Flemish and the Walloon Parliament be directly elected every five years.318 The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community has been in existence since their creation directly elected, also every five years. Despite, it was also decided to organize all the regional elections together from now on every five years. Since also the elections to the European Parliament take place every five years, it is opted to hold regional elections coincide with the European elections.319

With the sixth state reform, the so-called Vlinderakkoord, it was decided that the federal elections will take place on the same day as the elections to the European Parliament and that, consequently, the federal legislature will also run for five years.320 Since 2014, the European, regional and federal elections are held on the same day. The decision to hold both regional, federal and European elections at the same time is taken intended to make things less complicated. It was aimed to restore the confidence of the citizens in politics.321

In 2012, the European Parliament asked the Council to consult the European Parliament on holding the elections on either 15-18 May or 22—25 May 2014. The European Parliament hoped in that way to have more time for the election of the president of the European Commission and the composition of the rest of

316 77% of the respondents believes Belgium has benefited from its EU membership, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, Eurobarometer Survey 89.2 of the European Parliament, 2018, 11. 317 Article 62 Belgian Consitution 318 Article 117 §1 Belgian Constitution. 319 Article 117 §2 Belgian Constitution. 320 Het Vlinderakkoord, Een efficiëntere federale staat en een grotere autonomie voor de deelstaten. Institutioneel akkoord voor de zesde staatshervorming, 11 oktober 2011, 9. 321 Belgische Staat, Voorstel tot invoeging van een artikel 39bis in Titel III van de Grondwet, Parl.St. Senaat 2011- 12, nr. 5-1749/1, 5.

the Commission.322 The Council decided to hold the eight elections during the period of 22 to 25 May 2014.323 Consequently, the federal and regional elections were brought forward to 25 May 2014.

The 2019 European Parliament elections were held on the 26th May 2019. Twenty-one MEP's were to be elected324. Twelve MEP's were elected by those voting in the Dutch-speaking electoral college. Eight MEP's were elected in the French-speaking electoral college, and one MEP is elected by those voting in the German- speaking electoral college.325 Eventually, in Flanders, the New Flemish Alliance remains the largest party, but the elections were eventually won by the Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang). On the Walloon side, the social-democrat PS remains the first party, whether its radical challenger, PTB, increased its voter with 9%. 326 1.5.1.2. The European Electoral Campaign

As European, regional and federal elections are held on the same day, European issues are either secondary or overshadowed by federal and regional issues. This becomes clear in the by the very low percentage of social media posts dedicated to the European electoral campaign. Consequently, the production of the parties dedicated to the European electoral campaign was the lowest of all 28 countries monitored, with only 49 items generated on social media.327 These 49 items reveal, in general, a strong pro-European orientation. The overall tone of European electoral campaigns was positive. The European Parliament election campaign was a quiet campaign, without too many negative connotations or personal attacks on politicians.

The amount of products on social media confirms the little attention paid by the Belgian political parties to the European electoral campaign. Only 7% of the 667 posts on social media by Belgian political parties were related to the European Parliament elections.328 Besides in Belgium, we are deprived of a national European

322 European Parliament, Resolution of 22 November 2012 on the elections to the European Parliament in 2014 (2012/ 2829(RSP)), OJ C 419, 16 December 2015, 185–186. 323 Council Decision of 14 June 2013 fixing the period for the eighth election of representatives to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, OJ L 169, 21 June 2013, p. 69–69. 324 Article 3 European Council decision of 28 June 2018 establishing the composition of the European Parliament, OJ L 165I , 2 July 2018. 325 European Parliament News, Belgium-België-Belgique-Belgien, 26 May 2019, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190516BKG51011/european-elections-2019-country- sheets/1/belgium (last accessed on 1 May 2020). 326 L. DE SIO, M. FRANKLIN and L. RUSSO, The European Parliament Elections 2019, Luiss University Press, 2019, 92. 327 Publication office of the European Union, 2019 European elections campaign, July 2019, 44, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e6767a95-a386-11e9-9d01-01aa75ed71a1/language-en (last accessed on 2 May 2020). 328 Publication office of the European Union, 2019 European elections campaign, July 2019, 48, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e6767a95-a386-11e9-9d01-01aa75ed71a1/language-en (last accessed on 2 May 2020).

debate as European issues are almost exclusively debated with candidate MEPs.329 So, Belgian citizens know very little about the European plans of the national party leaders—a missed opportunity. National party presidents do not venture into Europe, and Europe is often used to shift blame.330 In 2014, Guy Verhofstadt's candidacy at least attracted some attention.331 In 2019, there was no Belgian candidacy for the Spitzenkandidat procedure. Given the scarcity of products for the European campaign, the main themes were those related to Europe. The second most important topic was the environment. 332 Followed by social labour, immigration and economics.

Figure 3 Source: European Parliament

In conclusion, the European electoral campaign in Belgium is overshadowed by the federal and regional electoral campaigns. The most obvious reason is that the European Parliament elections coincide with the federal and regional elections in Belgium. This simultaneity distracts the election campaigns from European and the European issues at stake.333

1.6. The Election of Ursula von der Leyen and the Fall of the Spitzenkandidat Procedure

329 S. VAN HECKE, Het kneusje van de verkiezingsrace, De Standaard, 25 Mei 2019, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20190524_04422171?articlehash=45A5533E1F22CB9CAB60F4C413A5924C1813 07C3D484BD58268AB3077612CADD559E4A692B77A4D82763A9DAC4DCEAAA6EE124FB2E853E76867BD56 2535EA4A6 (last accessed on 2 May 2020). 330 K. VERHOEVEN, Hier kon het Vlaams Parlement over discussiëren, De Standaard, 23 Mei 2019, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20190522_04418722?articlehash=04B73A5F3E3ABD9C3DAAC4C27E7E6DC8B 996B9C7646D9E765FC3B0197CD666AC6A86882FDDDD73DCDDF0789C16DE38B9BB5DFCFD69DFC24A121 A0B46A5D0A5C6 (last accessed on 2 May 2020). 331 L. DE SIO, M. FRANKLIN and L. RUSSO, The European Parliament Elections 2019, Luiss University Press, 2019, 95. 332 Publication office of the European Union, 2019 European elections campaign, July 2019, 47, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e6767a95-a386-11e9-9d01-01aa75ed71a1/language-en (last accessed on 2 May 2020). 333 PUBLICATION OFFICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 2019 European elections campaign, July 2019, 14, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e6767a95-a386-11e9-9d01-01aa75ed71a1/language-en (last accessed on 2 May 2020).

As abovementioned, Article 17(7) TEU determines that the electoral results should be taken into account when selecting the new President of the European Commission. An increase of voter turnout characterized the results of the 2019 European Parliament elections. The participation went up for the first time since 1994 and was the highest in 25 years (50. 66%).

Figure 4 Source: The European Parliament

As figure 5 shows, the EPP remains the biggest group in the European Parliament. In comparison to the 2014 European Parliament elections, the EPP and the P&S have both lost seats and for the first time in 40 years, these two groups were not able to form an absolute majority within the European Parliament.

Figure 5 Source: The European Parliament

Given the fact that the EPP remained the biggest group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber had seemed to be the most likely choice for the Commission's Presidency. Nevertheless on 16 July 2019, with 383 votes in favour, 327 votes in opposition and 22 abstentions, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission.334 To understand why the Spitzenkandidat procedure was not applied, even though the European Parliament had vouched not to elect anyone who had not run as Spitzenkandidat, we have to go back to 2018.335

Donald Tusk, the European Council's President, noted ahead of the European Council's informal meeting of 23 February 2018 "that the European Council cannot deprive itself of its prerogative to choose the person it proposes as President of the European Commission without a change of the Treaty". He, therefore, asked the Member States whether or not the European Council should automatically accept the outcome of a 'Spitzenkandidaten’ process or should the European Council autonomously decide how to take account of the elections, having held appropriate consultations?336

The European Council’s meeting took place on 23 February 2018. Afterwards, Tusk announced “there is no automaticity in this process. The Treaty is very clear that it is the autonomous competence of the European Council to nominate the candidate while taking into account the European elections, and having held appropriate consultations.” The European Council could not guarantee in advance that it would propose one of the lead candidates for President of the European Commission.337

Despite the lack of support in the European Council, the Spitzenkandidat procedure could have been influenced with enough support in the European Parliament. However, the candidacy of Manfred Weber was rejected by two major groups in the European Parliament, the S&D and Renew Europe. One important reason for the declining support among the Social Democrat and Liberal Parties has been the rejection of the idea of transnational lists by the EPP.338 Guy Verhofstadt, former leader of ALDE, said it was incredible the EPP

334 European Parliament, Parliament elects Ursula von der Leyen as first female Commission President, press release, 16 July 2019, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190711IPR56824/parliament-elects-ursula-von- der-leyen-as-first-female-commission-president (last accessed on 26 July 2020). 335 European Parliament, European Parliament decision of 7 February 2018 on the revision of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission (2017/2233(ACI)), 3-4, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2018-0030_EN.pdf. 336 European Council, Leader’s Agenda, February 2018, 1-2. 337 European Council, Informal meeting of the 27 heads of state or government: Main results, 23 February 2018, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2018/02/23/. 338 P. DE WILDE, The Fall of the Spitzenkandidaten: Political Parties and Conflict in the 2019 European Elections, in Kritzinger, S., C. Plescia, K. Raube, J. Wilhelm and J. Wouters (Eds), Assessing the 2019 European Parliament Elections, Abingdon: Routledge, 2020, Chapter 3, 33-53, 4.

voted against transnational lists.339 He added “We will have to see what is going to happen with the Spitzenkandidaten system. The EPP severely weakened the support for it the moment they killed the proposals for transnational lists that were supposed to be part of the system. The result is that citizens will not be able to directly vote for a Spitzenkandidat.”340

Following the rejection of Weber’s candidacy, Frans Timmermans was considered as a possible nomination ahead on the 2 July 2019 European Council’s meeting. Both Donald Tusk as Angela Merkel supported his candidacy.341 Therefore, the election of Ursula von der Leyen, at the European Council’s meeting of 2 July 2019, as Commission’s President came as a total surprise.342

Eventually, on 16th July 2019, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen. She was elected with 383 of 751 votes in favour, where she needed at last 374.343

1.7. Conclusion and Discussion

Since the introduction of the Spitzenkandidat procedure, the European electoral campaign gained a new transnational dimension. It enabled political parties at European level to put European-wide topics on the agenda and enhance political competition at the level of the European level.

339 M. BANKS, Jo Leinen defends transnational lists despite EU Parliament rejection, The European Parliament Magazine, 21 February 2018, https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/jo-leinen-defends-transnational- lists-despite-eu-parliament-rejection (last accessed on 5 August 2020). 340 M. BANKS, Verhofstadt denies flip-flopping over Spitzenkandidaten, The European Parliament Magazine, 14 September 2018, https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/verhofstadt-denies-flipflopping-over- spitzenkandidaten (last accessed on 5 August 2020). 341 D.M. HERZENHORN, J. HANKE VELA and M. DE LA BAUME, Merkel backs ‘real’ lead candidates, tipping Timmermans and Weber for EU top jobs, Politico, 29 June 2019, https://www.politico.eu/article/merkel-backs-real- lead-candidates-tipping-timmermans-and-weber-for-top-eu-jobs/ (last accessed 5 August 2020). 342 European Council, European Council appoints new EU leaders, 2 July 2019, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/07/02/european-council-appoints-new-eu-leaders/ (last accessed on 5 August 2020). 343 European Parliament, Parliament elects Ursula von der Leyen as first female Commission President, press release, 16 July 2019, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190711IPR56824/parliament-elects-ursula-von- der-leyen-as-first-female-commission-president (last accessed on 26 July 2020). 344 W. GAGATEK, European Political Parties as Campaign organisations: Toward a Greater Politicisation of the European Parliament Elections, Centre for European Studies, 2009, 12.

In 2019, similarly to the 2014 European Parliament elections, the Spitzenkandidat procedure was introduced. Compared to the first time the Spitzenkandidat procedure was applied, its aim was not achieved as neither the lead candidate of the biggest group in the European Parliament nor any lead candidate became President of the Commission.

The election of Ursula von der Leyen as Commission’s president was considered to be a step backwards towards a less transparent and less inclusive decision-making process. It damaged the reputation of the European institutions and European democracy as such.

The question that remains is what will happen in the future with the Spitzenkandidat procedure. The fact that the procedure failed in 2019 might mean it will never return. It can be possible nobody will be willing to run as a lead candidate and that European citizens do not take the procedure serious anymore. Of course, these predictions need to proceed with extreme caution.

Nevertheless, it is essential to continue an open discussion on the best process to reflect the uniquely democratic nature of the European Union. Therefore, the following paragraphs explore another proposal which has been put forward to make the European elections more genuinely European by facilitating campaigns around European issues and steered by European politicians: the proposal of transnational lists.

2. Transnational lists

By analysing the debate on transnational lists, this chapter aims to investigate whether or not transnational lists would address the democratic deficit of the European Union. 2.1 What are Transnational Lists?

The introduction of transnational lists has been debated for years within the EU politics.345 The idea emerged for the first time with the Anastassopoulos report (1998) and was proposed again with the Duff report in 2011 and 2012. The Anastassopoulos report intended to make the European Parliament elections more European. Anastassopoulos justified the need for transnational lists with their mechanism contributing to the emergence of a genuine European political awareness and the establishment of proper European political parties. He proposed to allocate 10% of the total number of EP seats through EU-wide lists, starting with the 2009

345 K. AUEL and G. TIEMANN, Europeanising European public sphere, study requested by the AFCO committee, 2020, 106.

European elections. 346 His idea was supported by the European federalist, as well as political parties as to the Greens, the Liberals and some members of the socialist and Christian democrats groups.347

The Anastassopoulos report eventually led to the first set of amendments to the 1976 Electoral Act with the Council decision 2002/772. However, the Council rejected some modifications, among other things, the idea of transnational lists.348 The idea of transnational lists was considered not to be in line with the basic provisions of the EC treaty which stated that the European Parliament should consist of representatives of the peoples of the states brought together in the Community.349 This changed with the Lisbon treaty. Article 10 TEU is no longer a legal obstacle, as the article states citizens are directly represented in the European Parliament.350 This fundamental change gave the impetus to reform the composition of the European Parliament further. Transnational lists appear to be a logical new step in making the European Parliament elections more European.351

In 2011, Andrew Duff presented his first report in the plenary but was then referred back to the AFCO Committee to seek a broader consensus.352 His second report, which was presented in 2012 to the Parliament’s plenary, was returned and not voted in the plenary as it did not achieve the necessary majority. The EPP was broadly against the proposal.353 Both Duff’s reports proposed several modifications to the Electoral Act of 1976. Concerning the transnational lists, the Duff report stated that an additional 25 Members of the Parliament should be elected from a single constituency formed on the whole territory of the European Union. Therefore he proposes that transnational lists would be composed of candidates drawn from at least one third of the States, and may ensure an adequate gender representation and each elector would be enabled to cast one vote for the EU-wide in addition to their vote for the national or regional list.354 The third Duff

346 Committee on Institutional Affairs, Report on a proposal for an electoral procedure incorporating common principles for the election of Members of the European Parliament, 1998, 21. 347 C. VERGER, Transnational lists: A political opportunity for Europe with obstacles to overcome, Institut Jacques Delors, policy paper no.216, 2018, 2. 348 European Parliament Research Service, European Union electoral law, 2019, 6. 349 Article 186 EC treaty, Nice consolidated version. 350 European Parliament Research Service, European Union electoral law, 2019,7. 351 K. AUEL and G. TIEMANN, Europeanising European public sphere, study requested by the AFCO committee, 2020, 107. 352 European Parliament Research Service, European Union electoral law, 2019,7. 353 C. VERGER, Transnational lists: A political opportunity for Europe with obstacles to overcome, Institut Jacques Delors, policy paper no.216, 2018, 2. 354 A. DUFF, Report on a proposal for a modification of the Act concerning the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage of 20 September 1976, A7-0176/2011A7-0176/2011,6

Report focused on the organizational issues of the upcoming elections, while all controversial passages were deleted, inter alia, transnational lists.355

In 2015, the European Parliament adopted a legislative initiative to amend the electoral law of the European Union. The Report proposed two fundamental reforms, among which the creation of a European constituency with transnational lists. In the last part of the report, the European Parliament specifies that the transnational lists would be led by each political party at European level’s leading candidate for the Presidency of the Commission.356 If the Council adopted this proposal, it would create a legal basis for transnational lists.357 The debate on the electoral reform gained momentum in the context of the Brexit negotiations. The question was how 73 British seats would be handled after the Brexit. One of the proposals was that 27 of these 73 seats would be used to establish the European constituency.358 The other proposals were to make the European Parliament smaller than the maximum 751 allowed by the Treaties, re-allocate seats to Member states and unused reserve seats for future enlargement of the Union.359

On 7 February 2018, the European Parliament proposed a mixture of the last three options. It proposed to shrink the overall number to 705 Members, to reallocate 27 seats and to keep the remaining unused seats as a reserve for enlargement. The European Parliament’s resolution stated this would have to be set out in the EU rules governing the European Parliament elections, for which they refer to the 2015 proposal.360 During the plenary debate of 7 February 2018, the European Parliament voted down the idea of transnational lists for the 2019 European Parliament elections.361 The proposal was voted down by 368 (54%) MEP’s against 273 (41%) with 34 abstentions.362 Figure 6 clearly shows the EPP was broadly against the idea. On the other hand, this figure also shows the strong support of the European Greens, Social Democrat and Liberal parties for the idea.

355 European Parliament Research Service, The history of European electoral reform and the Electoral Act 1976: Issues of democratisation and political legitimacy, 2016, 39. 356 European Parliament, Report on the reform of the electoral law of the European Union’ of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Co-rapporteurs Danuta Hübner and Jo Leinen, 2015, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-8-2015-0286_EN.pdf (last accessed on 31 July 2020). 357C. VERGER, Transnational lists: A political opportunity for Europe with obstacles to overcome, Institut Jacques Delors, policy paper no.216, 2018, 6. 358 J. CHARVAT, Pan-European Constituency and Transnational Lists: The Third Wave of the EU Politics of Electoral Reform, Revue de Siences Politiques, No.61, 2019, 30. 359 European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council : A Europe that delivers: Institutional options for making the European Union's work more efficient, COM(2018)95, Brussels, 6. 360 European Parliament, Resolution of 7 February 2018 on the composition of the European Parliament. 361 C. BARBIERE, European Parliament votes against transnational lists, Euractiv, 7 february 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/news/ep-votes-against-transnational-lists/ (last accessed on 26 July 2020) 362 C. BARBIERE, European Parliament votes against transnational lists, Euractiv, 7 february 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/news/ep-votes-against-transnational-lists/ (last accessed on 26 July 2020)

Figure 6 Source: VoteWatch Europe 2.2. Debate on the transnational lists 2018

The rejection of the idea of transnational lists was a major disappointment for Macron, who made transnational lists a major point to revive Europe.363 Transnational lists would contribute to the strengthening of European democracy by creating debates on European challenges and not strictly national ones during EU election, Macron’s office stated.364 He considers transnational lists as an institutional alternative to the Spitzenkandidat procedure and part of a wider agenda to rebuild a sovereign, united and democratic Europe.365

Former Commission President Juncker said in his 2017 State of the Union: "I also have sympathy for the idea of having transnational lists in European elections – though I am aware this is an idea more than a few of you disagree with”.366 The European Commission does believe transnational lists could strengthen the European dimension of the election by giving candidates the possibility to reach more citizens across

363 C. BARBIERE, European Parliament votes against transnational lists, Euractiv, 7 february 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/news/ep-votes-against-transnational-lists/ (last accessed on 26 July 2020) 364 Euobserver, France still fight for ‘transnational’ lists, 8 February 2018, https://euobserver.com/tickers/140908 (last accessed on 7 August 2020). 365 E. MACRON, Initiative pour l'Europe. Discours d'Emmanuel Macron pour une Europe souveraine, unie, démocratique, 2017, https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2017/09/26/president-macron-gives-speech-on-new- initiative-for-europe.en (last accessed on 31 July 2020). 366 J.-C. JUNCKER, State of the Union 2017, 13 September 2017, Brussels.

Europe.367 Ursula von der Leyen addressed in her opening statement in the European Parliament the issue of transnational lists at European Parliament elections as a complementary tool for European democracy.368

Other supporters of the idea believe transnational lists would enable a European political system and genuine European political parties and create a European demos.369 They argue transnational lists would enable political parties at European level to formulate coherent party positions.370 It would encourage political parties at European level to compete for ideas, votes and seats on a pan-European scale.371 A pool of candidates, representing a common programme would potentially enable a genuine focus on EU politics. 372 Those programmes would then be discussed and defended in national communities. This would transform the national political landscapes in terms of framing the issues.

Moreover, MEP’s supporting the idea believe candidates elected from transnational lists will be better to represent, organize, and communicate EU politics.373 Former ALDE leader, Guy Verhofstadt, welcomed the proposal with enthusiasm as well as former S&D leader Gianni Pittella and the European Greens.374 PES president Sergei Stanishev expressed his support stating: "As progressives, we are committed to improving the transparency and democratic accountability of that Parliament, as well as fostering a stronger European dimension in European elections. As 73 seats in the European Parliament are vacated by outgoing UK MEPs, this offers an ideal opportunity to discuss how best to implement electoral lists that transcend national

367 European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council : A Europe that delivers: Institutional options for making the European Union's work more efficient, COM(2018)95, Brussels, 7. 368 European Commission, Opening Statement in the European Parliament Plenary Session by Ursula von der Leyen, Candidate for President of the European Commission, Starsbourg, 16 July 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_19_4230 (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 369 C. VERGER, Transnational lists: A political opportunity for Europe with obstacles to overcome, Institut Jacques Delors, policy paper no.216, 2018,3 370 European Commission, Transnational lists: Can they deliver on Their Promise?, 2017, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/bd80496c-100a-11ea-8c1f-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format- PDF/source-122221627 (last accessed on 4 May 2020) 371 A. ALEMANNO, Why Transnational Lists Matter for EU Democracy, Euractiv, 7 February 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/opinion/why-transnational-lists-matter-for-eu-democracy/ (last accessed on 1 Augusts 2020). 372 K. AUEL and G. TIEMANN, Europeanising European public sphere, study requested by the AFCO committee, 2020, 108. 373 K. AUEL and G. TIEMANN, Europeanising European public sphere, study requested by the AFCO committee, 2020, 108. 374 C. VERGER, Transnational lists: A political opportunity for Europe with obstacles to overcome, Institut Jacques Delors, policy paper no.216, 2018, 7.

borders — a measure that might start to shift the debate in election campaigns away from national topics and towards genuinely European issues."375

By contrast, critics argue transnational lists will further undermine the quality of democratic representation in the European Parliament by creating unconnected and unrooted representatives within the European Parliament. Representatives would be lacking a specific constituency and be disconnected from and unresponsive to their voters. Therefore candidates elected from transnational lists are considered as an obstacle to the legitimacy of the European Union.376 Opponents to the idea argue that the parliamentarians would be detached from their nationals. They would no longer represent their nationals but the Union Citizens.

Moreover, they argue, transnational lists would empower major countries and major political parties. 377 From what can be deduced from figure 6, it is the EPP who seems to have a hostile attitude to transnational lists. Alain Lamassoure, EPP MEP and former minister in France, believes candidates elected from transnational lists would be MEP without roots.378 Other EPP figures, Paulo Rangel and Elmar Brok, fear transnational lists would heighten the divide between citizens and their representatives and would favour populists. Elmar Brok even said the concept is anti-European and anti-federal.379

VAN HECKE and WOLFS describe the idea of transnational lists as a good-bad idea, referring to how Jean- Luc Dehaene described the Spitzenkandidat procedure. Transnational lists seem to be a good idea to strengthen European democracy, but a closer look reveals it is a good-bad idea. They assume transnational lists would undermine the legitimacy of the further Commission.380

2.3. Can transnational lists possibly be an answer to the democratic deficit of the European Union?

375 Party of the European Socialists, PES: 2019 transnational lists would strengthen European elections, 24 January 2018, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/PES-2019-transnational-lists-would-strengthen-European- elections/ (last accessed on 7 August 2020). 376 K. AUEL and G. TIEMANN, Europeanising European public sphere, study requested by the AFCO committee, 2020, 108. 377 A. ALEMANNO, Why Transnational Lists Matter for EU Democracy, Euractiv, 7 February 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/opinion/why-transnational-lists-matter-for-eu-democracy/ (last accessed on 1 Augusts 2020). 378 C. VERGER, Transnational lists: A political opportunity for Europe with obstacles to overcome, Institut Jacques Delors, policy paper no.216, 2018, 6. 379 C. VERGER, Transnational lists: A political opportunity for Europe with obstacles to overcome, Institut Jacques Delors, policy paper no.216, 2018, 7. 380 S.VAN HECKE and W. WOLFS, Transnational lists: a good-bad idea, Euractiv, 7 February 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/opinion/transnational-lists-a-bad-good-idea/ (last accessed on 31 July 2020).

György Schöpflin from EPP argues transnational lists would not make democracy at the level of the European Union better. He states: “First, the transnational list (TNL) is based on an idea that out there somewhere there is a European demos just waiting to be represented, and that the TNL will do just this. This is an error. There is no European demos and to claim the contrary is an illusion. Have European citizens ever been asked if they want to be represented by a transnational list? Again, the answer is no. So, in real terms, what we are looking at is a top-down, elite-driven project, presumably starting from the belief that, if the transnational list comes into being, so will the European demos. Why on earth should it? It is a fatal assumption that the TNL will generate a supranational European consciousness. If anything, those putatively elected on the TNL will be remote from the electorate, and that will not do the reputation of this Parliament any good. It’s magical thinking that the transnational list will somehow produce the European demos. If the transnational list does happen, then this Parliament will have 27 free-floating MEPs answerable to none. They will have power without an electorate, they will have power without accountability and power without responsibility. So where are the checks and balances? I shouldn’t have to say that power without responsibility is the high road to arbitrariness. That, if you ask me, is about as undemocratic as it gets.”381

SCHOPLIN argues that there is no European demos and neither will transnational list create it. He states MEP’s elected from transnational lists would be remote from the electorate and will do the reputation of the European Parliament no good. He frames the whole problem to be the lack of a European demos and transnational lists would make it even more undemocratic.

In his speech, concerning the introduction of transnational lists, Guy Verhofstadt explicitly states the following: “Mr President, first of all I want to thank the rapporteurs for their work, for their wisdom and for their patience in this long discussion. You may remember the former president of the European People’s Party who was my predecessor as Prime Minister of Belgium and who was, I can say quite easily, a very dedicated European, Wilfried Martens. Wilfried Martens was a true believer in and defender of transnational lists and he understood what was at stake: he understood that without a strong link between the citizens and Europe, eurosceptics and populists would in the end always win the game. And he understood that transnational lists will not alienate the citizen: quite the contrary. Why? Because, in the proposal that you have before you, people will have two votes. One vote is for a national candidate, for a national list, to keep the link between the citizen and his or her MEP; and a second vote is for transnational candidates, to strengthen the link between the citizen and the European Union. In my view, this is the only way to create

381 G. SCHOPFLIN, Debate on the Transnational lists, 7 February 2018, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-8-2018-02-07_EN.html (last accessed 31 July 2020).

what I call a European demos – which cannot arrive by accident, or spontaneously of itself – and I think it is also needed to make the Spitzenkandidaten process really democratic […]”382 Verhofstadt argues a strong link between citizens and Europe is necessary to fight the eurosceptics and populists. People will have two votes, which will strengthen both sides. On the one hand, it would strengthen the link between the citizen and the European Union, but also keep the link with his or her MEP. In this way, he argues a European demos would be created. It could be possible that when establishing transnational lists, the European demos would be generated like the national civic solidarity has done.

Verhofstadt continues stating: “In my view, this is the only way to create what I call a European demos – which cannot arrive by accident, or spontaneously of itself – and I think it is also needed to make the Spitzenkandidaten process really democratic. Today the Spitzenkandidaten process is still undemocratic and non- transparent, a backroom deal within political parties or between political parties. What Spitzenkandidaten alone will 28 not deliver, and what transnational lists will deliver because they complement the Spitzenkandidaten process, is that it becomes a democratic process. It will be the people, the citizens, who will decide on the Spitzenkandidaten and the President of the Commission. I have not heard any serious arguments against it”. 383

Verhofstadt states that transnational lists would be made the Spitzenkandidat procedure more democratic. He considers the Spitzenkandidat procedure to be a backroom deal within the political parties at European level and therefore undemocratic. The solution, he argues, would be transnational lists that complement Spitzenkandidat procedure. Transnational lists would strengthen the legitimacy of the procedure if all EU citizens could vote for each of the candidates running, not only those of the same nationality.384

In their experiment, BOL et al. conducted an online experiment where we invited thousands of Europeans to report how they would vote in a pan-European ballot. The experiment was conducted three weeks before the 2014 European Parliament elections in which thousands of European citizens voted for a transnational list that was designed by the researchers. The research of BOL et al. shows us that a pan-European election could increase the politicization of the European Union. They found out that when there would be a pan- European election where pan-European political parties would have participated in real pan-European campaigns, it

382 G. VERHOFSTADT, Debate on transnational lists from the European Parliament, 7 February 2018, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-8-2018-02-07_EN.html (last accessed on 31 July 2020). 383 G. VERHOFSTADT, Debate on transnational lists from the European Parliament, 7 February 2018, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-8-2018-02-07_EN.html (last accessed on 31 July 2020). 384 S. BLOCKMANS and S. RUSSACK, Deliberative democracy in the EU, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, 2019, 139.

would be possible that citizens become less attached to their national candidates. In the long-term, this would increase the politicization of the European Union.385 2.4. Conclusion

While transnational lists hold a significant potential to enhance European democracy, they also raise serious questions about the established practices at the level of the European Union. They may have a disruptive effect on the way the European Parliament elections are currently organised. Nevertheless, the promise of transnational lists is powerful. Transnational lists would enable political parties at European level to organize a more genuine debate on European issues, and it would encourage political parties at European level to compete for ideas, votes and seats on a pan-European scale. However, as it appeared from the most recent voting in the European Parliament, not all political leaders are prepared to help to build this experiment. And before introducing transnational lists, it would be necessary to either convince the MEP’s that transnational lists would create a European demos or that it would be we necessary to build first a European demos.

The findings of the VoteWatch survey regarding the changes that would take place in 2019 reveals 72% of EU professionals back a further change to the EU electoral system, namely the introduction of transnational lists. 19% of respondents could hardly conceal their enthusiasm, whereas 53% believes transnational lists are a good idea when it is well implemented.386

385 D. BOL, P. HARFST, A. BLAIS, S. N GOLDER, J-F LASLIER, L. B STEPHENSON, K. VAN DER STRAETAN, Addressing Europe’s democratic deficit: An experimental evaluation of the pan-European district proposal, European Union Politics, vol 17(4), 2016, 540. 386 VoteWactch, Survey Results: What will happen in 2019-pivotal year for the EU?, 22 February 2018, https://www.votewatch.eu/blog/survey-results-what-will-happen-in-2019-pivotal-year-for-the-eu/ (last accessed on 1 August 2020).

Figure 7 Source: VoteWatch Europe

Chapter IV: Further recommendations

In March 2019, Macron proposed to organize by 2020 together with the representatives of the European institutions and the Member States, a Conference for Europe to propose all the changes our political project needs. Ursula von der Leyen expressed her commitment to the discussion and debate on the future of Europe. She also confirmed the European institutions would organize the Conference on the future of Europe and that citizens should have their say at a Conference on the Future of Europe, to start in 2020 and run for two years.

On 15 January 2020, the European Parliament kicked off debate on the Future of Europe Conference. David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, said “We need democracy to work and we above all, we need democracy to be useful to all our citizens. This is in the interest of all institutions and the Union itself”. 387

The Conference aims to build a citizen’s dialogues over the past two years and foresee broad consultation of citizens in the course of the process. Both the Council, European Council, European Parliament and European

387 B. RIOS, Parliament kicks off debate on the Future of Europe Conference, EurActiv, 15 January 2020, https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/parliament-kicks-off-debate-on-the-future-of-europe-conference/ (last accessed on 10 August 2020).

Commission needs to be involved. The European Council underlines that also all Member States need to be involved equally.388 Weber thereby calls for the Spitzenkandidat procedure to be set in stone.389

It was expected the debate to begin on 9 May 2020, but it was postponed until further notice, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the light of the upcoming debate, this chapter set outs various options that could be taken into consideration during the debate on the future of political parties at European level.

1. Recommendations Regarding the Spitzenkandidat Procedure

Following the introduction of the Spitzenkandidat procedure in 2014 and its demise in 2019, there is much confusion about how to proceed in 2024. I don’t think the Spitzenkandidat procedure is dead, but action is needed now. The following paragraphs provide possible adjustments to strengthen the procedure further and to make the Spitzenkandidat a more European image in the upcoming electoral campaigns. 1.1. The Nomination of the Leading Candidates

One possible adjustment is the further development of the nomination of the Leading candidates. In this regard, two possible scenarios are conceivable: the introduction of European Primaries and the direct election of the Commission’s President.

European primaries would involve European citizens as much as possible and create a genuine political debate.390 Each political party could present a list of potential candidates that the party members would then vote for. Depending on the choice of the political parties at European level, they could hold open, semi-open or closed primaries, i.e. all citizens would be entitled to vote, only party members could participate in the candidate selection.391

Regardless, the modalities of the primary, it could be an excellent tool for enhancing the Spitzenkandidat procedure and for the strengthening of the link between the European citizens and the European Commission. In the weeks and months leading up to the primaries, the candidates would be encouraged to run personalized

388 European Council, Conclusions 12 December 2019, EUCO 29/19, https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/41768/12-euco-final-conclusions-en.pdf (last accessed on 10 August 2020). 389 B. RIOS, Parliament kicks off debate on the Future of Europe Conference, EurActiv, 15 January 2020, https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/parliament-kicks-off-debate-on-the-future-of-europe-conference/ (last accessed on 10 August 2020). 390 O. DANIELS-PAVICH and T. JURGENS, Confronting the democratic deficit in the European Union: The Potential of Europarties, Task Force Winter, Seattle, 2020, 117. 391 J. M. GOMEZ and W. WESSELS, The Spitzenkandidat Procedure: Reflecting on the Future of an Elecotral Experiment, IAI Working Papers, 2016, 14.

campaigns, participate in public debates and make on the ground visits.392 Hence, the participation of citizens in an earlier stage of the nomination process could also increase voter turnout at the European Parliament elections.

Another more far-reaching proposal to the nomination of the leading candidates is the direct election of the European Commission. According to this proposal, the President of the Commission would be directly elected by the European citizens and by consequence directly accountable to the citizens. It would establish a direct chain of delegation and provide citizens with clear voting options, for instance, the choice of rejecting or confirming a sitting Commission President.393 When asking MEP’s from all sides of the political spectrum to stake it their opinions on the proposals, the opinions are divided. Rebecca Harms, MEP of the EGP, for example, is more in favour of the Spitzenkandidat procedure. The same counts for Jo Leinen, MEP of the PES, who adds that the direct election of the Commission’s President would transform the European democracy into a presidential democracy. Gabriele Zimmer, MEP of EL, argues, on the other hand, the direct election of the Commission’s President could be an improvement as it would be made clear towards the voters for who and what they are voting.394

The Spitzenkandidat procedure can be considered to be the first step to surmount the democratic deficit at the European level. While the procedure has still its difficulties, an adjustment of the nomination of the leading candidates could be an improvement. I drafted two possible ways: the European primaries and the direct election of the Commission’s President. Theoretically, European primaries would raise awareness of the Spitzenkandidat procedure by involving citizens or party members at an early stage of the electoral process. The direct election of the Commission’s President, on the other hand, would increase the accountability of the Commission’s President.

European primaries would not require Treaty amendments or secondary law, but only an adaption of the parties’ statutes. Regarding the opinions of the MEP’s the direct election of this would be too far-reaching. Most interviewed MEP’s prefer a strengthening of the Spitzenkandidat procedure without too far-reaching steps. Therefore, European primaries are more likely assumed to address the democratic deficit of the European Union.

392 O. DANIELS-PAVICH and T. JURGENS, Confronting the democratic deficit in the European Union: The Potential of Europarties, Task Force Winter, Seattle, 2020, 117. 393 J. M. GOMEZ and W. WESSELS, The Spitzenkandidat Procedure: Reflecting on the Future of an Elecotral Experiment, IAI Working Papers, 2016, 17. 394 Debating Europa, Should the President of the EC be directly elected?, 17 May 2019, https://www.debatingeurope.eu/2019/05/17/president-european-commission-directly-elected/#.XzRA4ygzZPY (last accessed on 12 August 2020).

1.2. Increased Visibility of the Leading Candidate

Ahead of the 2019 European Parliament elections, the European Commission recommended European and national political parties to announce well ahead of the start of the electoral campaign, ideally by the end of 2018, their candidate for President of the Commission they support and, ideally by early 2019, the candidate's programme.395 Eventually, ALDE396, EL397 and EFA Party398 did not follow the Commission Recommendation by nominating their leading candidates in 2019. Accordingly, this gave voters less than six months to familiarise themselves with the candidates running for Commission President and the campaign programme.

By nominating their lead candidates and kick off their electoral campaigns earlier, voters would have more opportunity to identify the candidates and the political programme they stand for. It would allow lead candidates more time to campaign and to visit the Member States to take the pulse of Europe and the European citizens.399 Therefore, political parties must nominate their leading candidates at least six months ahead of the elections. 2. Developing Individual Membership

Individual membership of political parties is relatively new at the level of the European level. For a long time, membership of political parties at European level was restricted to national political parties and specific associations, by introducing individual membership political parties at European level aim to build a bridge between the national and European level.400 After all, the role of political parties at European level is to contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union.401

395 European Commission, A Europe that delivers: Institutional options for making the European Union's work more efficient, COM(2018) 95 final, 13 February 2018, 4, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta- political/files/communication-institutional-options-for-making-the-european-union-work-more-efficient_en.pdf 396 M. DE LA BAUME, Liberals to present a slate of candidates for top EU jobs, Politico, 9 November 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/alde-liberals-to-present-slate-of-candidates-margrethe-vestager-vera-jourova-guy- verhofstadt-for-top-eu-jobs/ (last accessed on 3 May 2020). 397 Party of the European Left, Two Candidates From the people to the people, Brussels, 26-27 January 2019, https://www.european-left.org/campaigns/two-candidates-from-the-people-for-the-people/ (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 398 The European Free Alliance Party, EFA kicks off election race by launching a procedure to appoint a “Spitzenkandidat”, 21 January 2019, https://www.e-f-a.org/2019/01/21/efa-kicks-off-eu-election-race-by-launching- a-procedure-to-appoint-a-spitzenkandidat/ (last accessed on 4 May 2020). 399 European Commission, A Europe that delivers: Institutional options for making the European Union's work more efficient, COM(2018) 95 final, 13 February 2018, 5, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta- political/files/communication-institutional-options-for-making-the-european-union-work-more-efficient_en.pdf 400 P.N, RASMUSSEN at the PES Activists’ Forum in Dublin, September 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggn-uaU6f9Y (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 401 Article 10 TEU.

The following paragraphs give an overview of the individual membership of the political parties at European level.

2.1 Political Parties at European Level and Individual Membership

The first party to introduce individual membership, was the EPP in the mid 1990s. The party leadership wanted to create a real party with members. The EPP’s individual members are called supporting members. According to the EPP’s internal regulations, supporting members are invited to follow the Congress as guests, where they do not have the right to vote. Hence, supporting members of the EPP are not entitled to vote in the election of the EPP’s President.402 Supporting members can contribute to the EPP; the contribution is at least 20 euro.403

The PES introduced individual membership, PES activists, in 2005. All members of PES parties are automatically members of the PES, those who wish to be active in the PES have to register online. 404 According to article 21 and 22 of the PES Statutes, PES activists do not have the right to vote in the election of the PES President.405 There is no membership fee required for PES activists.

The ALDE introduced individual membership, associate members, in 2011. According to Article 7 of the Party’s statute membership is open to anyone who accept the Articles of Association, the Internal Regulations of the Association, the policy programmes of the Association and the Stuttgart Declaration. Associate membership is not open to anyone who is a member of any national political party that itself belongs to any other European political party other than the ALDR Party.406 Consequently, there is a clear distinction in comparison to the individual membership of the PES. ALDE party gives the possibility to sign up for

402 Article 11 Statutes of the European People’s Party, Approved by the EPP Congress 20-21 November 2019 in Zagreb (Croatia), https://www.epp.eu/files/uploads/2019/12/EPP-Statutes-2019-Approved-by-the-Zagreb-Congress- 20-21-Nov-and-completed-by-EPP-Presidency-11-Dec-2019.pdf (last accessed on 3 August 2020) 403 Internal Regulations of the European People’s Party, Approved by the EPP Political Assembly on 14 October 2019 in Brussels, https://www.epp.eu/files/uploads/2019/12/EPP-Internal-Regulations-Approved-by-the-PA-14-Oct- 2019.pdf (last accessed on 3 August 2020). 404 Article 18 PES Statutes, adopted by the 11 th PES Congress on 7 th December 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/Downloads/Policy-Documents/Democracy/2018-FINAL_amended_PES- Statutes_EN.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 3 August 2020). 405 Article 21 and 22 PES Statutes, adopted by the 11 th PES Congress on 7 th December 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/Downloads/Policy-Documents/Democracy/2018-FINAL_amended_PES- Statutes_EN.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 3 August 2020). 406 Article 7 Articles of Association of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe 2 Party, European political party, adopted by the ALDE Party Congress in Athens, Greece on 24-26 October 2019, https://www.aldeparty.eu/sites/alde/files/00-Pages/10/alde-statutes-european-party2019-adopted.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020).

membership also to individuals who are not necessarily linked to political parties. As Associate member, you can be granted the right to vote at the party congress, which is their highest organ and ratifies manifestos. 407 Former president Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck stated, “Associate Membership for individuals is a sign of support to the European liberal values of freedom and individual responsibility, democracy and the rule of law, respect for human rights and tolerance”.408

The European Green Party introduced individual membership, supporters, in 2004. According to Article 34 of the Rule Book, which deals with the EGP’s working groups and networks, states the European Green Party is not open to individual members. However, the Article states, individuals are welcome to participate within the EGP if they are members of an EGP Member Party, in the Individual Supporters Network. Participation in the decision-making process is exclusively held for Full Members of the European Green Party.409

Lastly, also the smaller parties EFA, ECR, EDP and EL allow individuals to become a member of their party. The EFA’s Articles of Association state individuals may be accepted as individual members by the Bureau, on the condition they are no member of an EFA member party of organization.410 The EDP Party’s Statutes state Members of the Association are divided into seven categories, among which individual members. Individual members are members of the European institutions and bodies provided for by the Treaties, members of national parliaments and regional and local assemblies.411 The ECR Party’s Bylaws state the Council can grant individual membership among others, to elected Members of the European Parliament without national party affiliation or belonging to a national party that is not a Member Party of the ECR Party, to European Commissioners or national or regional parliamentarians and similarly situated individuals,

407 Internal Regulation of the ALDE Party, As modified at the Party Council meeting in Athens, Greece on 25 October 2019, 2, https://www.aldeparty.eu/sites/alde/files/00-Pages/10/alde-party-internal-regulations-adopted19.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 408 Qouted from ELDR launches the Associate Membership for individuals, ELDR News No 8, February 2011, 3, https://issuu.com/aldeparty/docs/62_en_eldr_news8/3 (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 409 Article 34 Rule Book of the European Green Party Rules and Procedures within the European Green Party, as last amended in Tampere 10 November 2019, https://europeangreens.eu/sites/europeangreens.eu/files/EGP%20Rule%20Book%20as%20amended%20Tampere%20 2019%20_0.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 410 Article 8 Articles of Association, as adopted in Brussel on 9 March 2019, https://www.e-f-a.org/wp- content/uploads/2019/04/AOA-EFA-2019.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 411 Article 7 European Democratic Party Statutes, as modified by the Council of Paris, on 29 November 2019, https://www.democrats.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files/Statuts%20PDE-EDP%202019_EN.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020).

who meet the membership criteria.412 The European Left’s Statute introduces the opportunity of individual membership as a contribution to its future development.413

2.2. Individual membership as the link between European institutions and European Citizens.

The question remains whether or not political parties at European level could strengthen their linkage with the European citizens by individual membership. After all, the role of political parties at European level is to contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union.414

Research on national political parties has shown that party members are a valuable resource. The reasons are multiple. For political parties at European level, individual members can be as important. First of all, a large membership provides political parties with democratic legitimacy. Furthermore, individual members increase the power of political parties during the European election campaign. They distribute campaign materials, hang up posters and promote the political party on social media.415

The individual members of the EGP and PES, for example, already demonstrated to be a way to cultivate the European electoral campaign of political parties at European level.

The EGP’s campaign outline includes so-called heroes or ambassadors. With heroes or ambassadors, the EGP find the right people to support the manifesto topics and find the best ways to use them in the campaigns. Moreover, the EGP started in 2018 to build the Tilt! Network. Tilt! is, as the Party’s campaign outline describes, a tool through which we will do pre-campaigning and, most importantly, it is our way of engaging with the activists and Green-minded people outside Green circles who deeply care about the same issues for which we are putting forward solutions. During the election campaign, Tilt! was used as the Party’s main tool to reach out to European citizens and make them aware of our Green values and ideals.416

412 Article 4 Bylaws of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party formerly known as the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists PPEU, adopted at the Council Meeting of June 27, 2019, Brussels, http://www.epgencms.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/upload/0da6bde0-d2d0-4642-8985- 8dd06b2852e6/2019_06_27_ECR_Party_Statutes.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 413 Article 8 European Left Statute, as approved by the General Assembly meeting in Brussels, 30 September 2018, https://www.european-left.org/statute/#section-3 (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 414 Article 10 TEU. 415 S.VAN HECKE and W. WOLFS, Reconnecting European Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 35. 416 The Green Campaign Oultine: European Elections 2019, https://europeangreens.eu/content/green-campaign- outline-european-elections-2019 (last accessed on 4 August 2020).

The PES undertook a plan to train 15 000 for the European Elections. Marije Laffeber, the PES Deputy Secretary General who has overseen the creation of the 2019 Campaign Academy, said: “We want to train the next generation of political and campaign leaders and forge connections between member parties. A strong base of well-trained campaigners, working together, is a prerequisite for victory. This is something the PES has been building because through the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we can alone”.417 Nevertheless, if political parties at European level wants to attract more individuals, they should grant individual members voting rights to participate in policymaking and the selection of the leaders.418 Individual members should be given more rights to participate in the writing of parties’ manifesto’s and in policy formation. Moreover, they should be able to make amendments to policy documents and to attend working group meetings. Political parties should allow individual members to vote in parties’ decision-making bodies, such as the Congress.419 The ALDE Party has gone the furthest by granting individual members the right to contribute to the manifesto’s, they write the resolutions, attend and vote in party congresses and vote in leadership elections.420 The PES grants its activists the right to contribute to the manifesto’s, to the writing of resolutions, to make policy proposals and attend party congresses.421 The EGP grants its supporters the right to make policy proposals, write resolutions and attend party congresses.422 Both the EPP and the EL do not grant their individual members any of the abovementioned rights.423

417 Party of the European Socialist, The PES to train 15000 activists for European Elections, 5 December 2018, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/The-PES-to-train-15000-activists-for-European-elections/ (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 418 S.VAN HECKE and W. WOLFS, Reconnecting European Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 35 419 S. BLOCKMANS and S. RUSSACK, Deliberative democracy in the EU, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, 2019, 126. 420 Internal Regulation of the ALDE Party, As modified at the Party Council meeting in Athens, Greece on 25 October 2019, 2, https://www.aldeparty.eu/sites/alde/files/00-Pages/10/alde-party-internal-regulations-adopted19.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 421 Article 21 and 22 PES Statutes, adopted by the 11 th PES Congress on 7 th December 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/Downloads/Policy-Documents/Democracy/2018-FINAL_amended_PES- Statutes_EN.pdf_2063069299.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 422 Article 34 Rule Book of the European Green Party Rules and Procedures within the European Green Party, as last amended in Tampere 10 November 2019, https://europeangreens.eu/sites/europeangreens.eu/files/EGP%20Rule%20Book%20as%20amended%20Tampere%20 2019%20_0.pdf (last accessed on 4 August 2020). 423 O. DANIELS-PAVICH and T. JURGENS, Confronting the democratic deficit in the European Union: The Potential of Europarties, Task Force Winter, Seattle, 2020, 46.

Unfortunately, national political parties appear to be rather reluctant about individual membership. They are afraid individual membership would undermine their central role within the political parties at European level.424 2.3. Conclusion

There is a clear added value in a strengthened individual membership. As already happened in the run-up towards the European Parliament elections, individual members help to distribute campaign materials, hang up posters and promote the political party on social media.425

However, individual membership of political parties at European level is underdeveloped. It appears only a minimum of the registered political parties at European level grants their individual members voting rights. By granting individual members voting rights, they can be directly involved in the in policymaking and the selection of the leaders. This would make it more attractive to individuals to join a political party. And a large membership provides parties with democratic legitimacy. Therefore, political parties at European level should be making use of the full spectrum of the participatory rights and opportunities. Moreover, Party Regulation does not set limits on the rights of individual members.

Besides, to increase the attractiveness of individual membership, national political parties would also do their part. National political parties should promote individual membership as it would not undermine their important role within the political parties at European level.

Conclusion

“It cannot be doubted that political parties are here to stay”426. Before the Lisbon Treaty entered into force, political parties at European level were perceived as service providers, adopting manifestos and facilitating political debate. In contrast to national political parties, their influence was somewhat limited. Hardly any ordinary citizen had an idea on the electoral programmes of the political parties when going to vote. 427 Political parties at European level are not widely known to citizens,

424 G. VOERMAN, The Formation of political parties at European Union, Conference ‘The EP in an ever changing Union: where to go from here’ Maastricht, Montesquieu Institute, 5 – 6 March 2009, 7. 425 S.VAN HECKE and W. WOLFS, Reconnecting European Political Parties with European Union Citizens, International IDEA Discussion Paper, 2018, 35. 426 S. DAY, 427 W. GAGATEK, European Political Parties as Campaign organisations: Toward a Greater Politicisation of the European Parliament Elections, Centre for European Studies, 2009, 12.

and the link between national parties and political parties at European level is not always made clear towards voters.

Nevertheless, this master thesis argues political parties at European level can be an answer to the democratic deficit of the European Union. As stated in Chapter II of this study, the main questions concerning the democratic deficit, are how the governmental actions can be controlled at European level and how to make the citizens aware that they are controlled. Therefore, the Spitzenkandidat procedure was analysed.

The Spitzenkandidat procedure aimed to make the European Parliament elections more accessible by associating political parties with a leading candidate. It was the perfect opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their untapped potential. Unfortunately, the Spitzenkandidat procedure ran into difficulties and even was discarded in the 2019 European Parliament elections. Following the introduction of the Spitzenkandidat procedure and its demise in 2019, there is much confusion about how to proceed in 2024. However, the Spitzenkandidat procedure is not dead. But action is needed now.

The idea of transnational lists brought about a clash of different understandings of the democratic dimension of the European project. Some of the latter believe that transnational lists would only undermine the legitimacy of the European Commission. On the other hand, others would like to use this opportunity to launch greater citizen awareness on a European level, at the forefront of constituting a European demos. As for the moment, the European Parliament rejected the idea of transnational lists. Therefore, I analysed two adjustments that could possibly strengthen the Spitzenkandidat procedure.

A first potential improvement is the introduction of European primaries. It could be an excellent tool for enhancing the Spitzenkandidat procedure and for the strengthening of the link between the European citizens and the European Commission. In the weeks and months leading up to the primaries, the candidates would be encouraged to run personalized campaigns, participate in public debates and make on the ground visits.428 A second improvement to the Spitzenkandidat procedure is to enhance the visibility of the Spitzenkandidat. By nominating their lead candidates and kick off their electoral campaigns earlier, voters would have more opportunity to identify the candidates and the political programme they stand for. Therefore, I suggest nominating the lead candidate at least six months before the European Parliament election.

428 O. DANIELS-PAVICH and T. JURGENS, Confronting the democratic deficit in the European Union: The Potential of Europarties, Task Force Winter, Seattle, 2020, 117.

Another improvement needed is the strengthening of individual membership. This improvement concerns the internal organisation of the political parties at Europena level. There is a clear added value in a strengthened individual membership. By granting individual members voting rights, they can be directly involved in the in policymaking and the selection of the leaders. Voting rights would make it more attractive to individuals to join a political party. And a large membership provides parties with democratic legitimacy.

In conclusion, this master thesis argues political parties at European level can be an answer to the democratic deficit. However, some improvements are needed. And those are needed now.

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BANKS, M., “Jo Leinen defends transnational lists despite EU Parliament rejection”, The European Parliament Magazine, 21 February 2018, https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/jo-leinen- defends-transnational-lists-despite-eu-parliament-rejection BARTL, M., “Hayek Upside-Down: On the Democratic effects of Transnational Lists”, German Law Journal, 21, 2020, 57-62. BELLAMY, R., “Still in Deficit: Rights, Regulation and Democracy in the European Union”, European Law Journal, Vol 12, No.6, 2006, 725-742. BELLAMY, R. and S. KROGER, “Representation Deficits and Surpluses in EU Policy-making”, European Integration, Vol.35, No.5, 2013, 477-497. BOL, D., HARFST,P., BLAIS, A., N GOLDER, S., LASLIER, J.-F., STEPHENSON,L. B. and VAN DER STRAETAN, K., “Addressing Europe’s democratic deficit: An experimental evaluation of the pan- European district proposal”, European Union Politics, vol 17(4), 2016, 525-545. CHARVAT, J., “Pan-European Constituency and Transnational Lists: The Third Wave of the EU Politics of Electoral Reform”, Revue de Siences Politiques, No.61, 2019, 24-33. CHRISTIANSEN, T., “After the Spitzenkandidaten: fundamental change in the EU’s political system?”, West European Politics, Vol.39, No 5, 992-1010. DANIELS-PAVICH, O. and JURGENS, T., “Confronting the democratic deficit in the European Union: The Potential of Europarties”, Task Force Winter, Seattle, 2020, 1-137. DAY, S., “Developing a Conceptual Understanding of the Europe’s Trasnational Political Parties (with a special focus on the Party of European Socialists)”, Journal of contemporary European Studies, 13 (1), 59- 77. DAY, S., “Between ‘Containment’ and ‘Transnationalization’- Where next for the Europarties”, Activa Politica, Vol. 49, 1, 2014, 5-29.

FOLLESDAL, A. and HIX, S. “Why There is a Democratic Deficit in the EU: A Response to Majone and Moravcsik”, Journal of Common Market Studies, 533-562. GAGATEK, W., “European Political Parties as Campaign organisations: Toward a Greater Politicisation of the European Parliament Elections”, Centre for European Studies, 2009, 1-102. GAGATEK, W. and VAN HECKE, S. “The development of European political foundations and their role in strengthening Europarties”, Acta Politica, vol. 49, 1, 86-104. GERBET, P., “The Crisis of the Santer Commission”, CVCE, 2016, 1-4. HIX, S. “Parties at the European Level and the Legitimacy of EU Socio‐Economic Policy”, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol.33, issue 4, 1995, 527-553. INNERARITY, D., Does Europe truly needs to be democratic?, LEQS Paper, No. 77/2014, 2014, 1-36. JADOT, C. and KELBEL, C., Same, Same, but different, Politique Européenne, no.55, 2017, 60-85. JANSEN, T., “The European People's Party”, UK, Palgarave Macmillan, 1998, 206. JENSEN, T., “The Democratic Deficit of the European Union”, Living Reviews in Democracy, Zurich, 2009, 1-8. JOHANSSON, K.M. and RAUNIO, T., “Regulating Europarties: Cross-Party Regulations Capitalizing on Incomplete Contract”, Party Politics,Volume 11, no.5, 2005, 515-534. JOHANSSON, K. M. , “Europarties: A Research Note”, Zentrum für Europäische Integrationsforschung, 2015, 1-15. JOHANSSON, K.M. and RAUNIO, T., “Political parties in the European Union”, Oxford University Press, 2019, 1-19.

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BARBIERE, C., “European Parliament votes against transnational lists”, Euractiv, 7 february 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/news/ep-votes-against-transnational-lists/ BRZOZOWSKI, A and RODASAVLJEVIC, Z., “First Spitzenkandidat debate falls flat”, EurActiv, 29 April 2019, https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2019/news/first-spitzenkandidaten-debate-falls- flat/ DE LA BAUME, M., “Manfred Weber gets support for Commission top job from EPP leaders”, Politico, 17 October 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/manfred-weber-commission-president-support-epp- spitzenkandidat/

DE LA BAUME, M., “Liberals to present a slate of candidates for top EU jobs”, Politico, 9 November 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/alde-liberals-to-present-slate-of-candidates-margrethe-vestager-vera- jourova-guy-verhofstadt-for-top-eu-jobs/

DE LA BAUME, M., “Conservatives endorse Czech MEP for Commission Top Job”, Politico, 13 November 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/tories-european-allies-endorse-jan-zahradil-for- commission-top-job/

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European Green Party,“Ska Keller and José Bové Will Lead the Greens in Their European Campaign”, 2014, https://europeangreens.eu/news/press-release-greens-select-leading-candidates

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European Green Party, ”Evaluation of the Common Campaign for the 2014 European Elections”, 7-9 November 2014, https://europeangreens.eu/sites/europeangreens.eu/files/Political%20Evaluation%20common%20campaign %202014%20European%20elections%20-%20EGP%20Istanbul%20Council%2C%207- 9%20Nov%202014.pdf

European Green Party, “Procedure for the 2019 Green leading candidates – Spitzenkandidaten”, 18-20 May 2018, https://europeangreens.eu/sites/europeangreens.eu/files/news/files/2.%20ADOPTED%20Procedure%20for %20EGP%20leading%20candidates%20as%20adopted%20-%20slightly%20adapted%20- %20changes%20in%20red_0.pdf

European Green Party, “Four Greens enter race to become European Green Party leading candidates”, 17 September 2018, https://europeangreens.eu/content/four-greens-enter-race-become-european-green-party- leading-candidates

European Green Party, “Contenders Green leading candidates”, 29 September 2018, https://europeangreens.eu/berlin2018/001-contenders-green-leading-candidates

European Green Party, “European Greens elect leading duo”, 24 November 2018, https://europeangreens.eu/news/european-greens-elect-leading-duo

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HERSZENHORN, D.M. and DE LA BAUME, M., “Last Rites for Spitzenkandidat”, Politico, 27 September 2018, https://www.politico.eu/article/spitzenkandidat-last-rites-dying-system-european- commission-president/

MACRON, E. , “Initiative pour l'Europe. Discours d'Emmanuel Macron pour une Europe souveraine, unie, démocratique“, 2017, https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2017/09/26/president-macron-gives- speech-on-new-initiative-for-europe.en

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Party of the European Left, “European Elections: concerning the Submission of an EL candidacy for the presidency of the European Commission”, 21 October 2013, https://www.transform- network.net/blog/article/european-elections-concerning-the-submission-of-an-el-candidacy-for-the- presidency-of-the-european/

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Party of the European Socialists, “News: Progressive European Affairs Ministers in favor of Common Candidate”, 24 April 2016, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/Progressive-European-Affairs- Ministers-in-favor-of-Common-Candidate

Party of the European Socialists, “PES Council Resolution: PES 2019 Common Candidate in 2019 Roadmap”, 1 December 2017, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/Downloads/PES-Documents/FInal- EN-PES-2019-Common-Candidate-resolution.pdf_2063069299.pdf

Party of the European Socialists, “Selecting the PES Common Candidate in 2019”, Brussels, 20 June 2018, https://www.pes.eu/export/sites/default/.galleries/Documents-gallery/PES-FINAL-COMMON- CANDIDATE-2019.pdf_2063069299.pdf

Party of the European Socialists, “PES lining up for 2019 elections with strong nominees for common candidate”, 17 October 2018, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/PES-lining-up-for-2019- elections-with-strong-nominees-for-common-candidate/

Party of the European Socialists, “PES unites behind Timmermans as Lead Candidate for the 2019 European elections”, Brussels, 5 November 2018, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/PES- unites-behind-Timmermans-as-Lead-Candidate-for-2019-European-elections/

Party of the European Socialists, “Frans Timmermans launches campaign to become the President of the European Commission in Lisbon”, 8 December 2018, https://www.pes.eu/en/news- events/news/detail/Frans-Timmermans-launches-campaign-to-become-President-of-the-European- Commission-in-Lisbon/

Party of the European Socialists, “The PES to train 15000 activists for European Elections”, 5 December 2018, https://www.pes.eu/en/news-events/news/detail/The-PES-to-train-15000-activists-for-European- elections/

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The European Free Alliance Party, “EFA Lead Candidate must be able to participate in the EU elections campaign”, 18 April 2019, https://www.e-f-a.org/2019/04/18/efa-spitzenkandidat-oriol-junqueras-must-be- able-to-participate-in-the-eu-elections-campaign/

VAN HECKE, S. “Het kneusje van de verkiezingsrace”, De Standaard, 25 Mei 2019, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20190524_04422171?articlehash=45A5533E1F22CB9CAB60F4C413A5 924C181307C3D484BD58268AB3077612CADD559E4A692B77A4D82763A9DAC4DCEAAA6EE124F B2E853E76867BD562535EA4A6 VAN HECKE, S. and WOLFS,W., “Transnational lists: a good-bad idea”, Euractiv, 7 February 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/opinion/transnational-lists-a-bad-good-idea/ VERHOEVEN, K., “Hier kon het Vlaams Parlement over discussiëren”, De Standaard, 23 Mei 2019, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20190522_04418722?articlehash=04B73A5F3E3ABD9C3DAAC4C27E 7E6DC8B996B9C7646D9E765FC3B0197CD666AC6A86882FDDDD73DCDDF0789C16DE38B9BB5D FCFD69DFC24A121A0B46A5D0A5C6 VINCENTI, D., “MEP’s and EU leaders on collision course over Spitzenkandidaten process”, EURACTIV, 7 February 2018, https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/meps-and-eu-leaders-on-collision- course-over-spitzenkandidaten-process/1211285/ VINCENTI, D., , “Rehn clears way for Verhofstadt to lead the Liberal’s election campaign”, Euractiv, 21 January 2014, https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2014/news/rehn-clears-way-for-verhofstadt- to-lead-liberal-s-election-campaign/

X., “Greens select four candidates to run in primaries ahead of 2014 elections”, Euractiv, 8 November 2013, https://www.euractiv.com/section/elections/news/greens-select-four-candidates-to-run-in-primaries- ahead-of-2014-elections/

Others

Debating Europa, Should the President of the EC be directly elected?, 17 May 2019, https://www.debatingeurope.eu/2019/05/17/president-european-commission-directly- elected/#.XzRA4ygzZPY

European Parliament Research Service Blog, From Santer to Barroso: How strongly the EP supported them? 2014, https://epthinktank.eu/2014/10/25/from-santer-to-barroso-how-strongly-ep-supported-them/ European Parliament (FAQ), Political parties and Political Foundations, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/3/political-parties-and-political-foundations-at-the-european- level

European Parliament (FAQ), Political Parties at European Level, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/3/political-parties-and-political-foundations-at-the-european- level

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VoteWactch, Survey Results: What will happen in 2019-pivotal year for the EU?, 22 February 2018, https://www.votewatch.eu/blog/survey-results-what-will-happen-in-2019-pivotal-year-for-the-eu/

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