Pasquino, Pasquale

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Five Questions on the EP electionsand the "Spitzenkandidat" process:Answers by PASQUALE PASQUINOPasquale Pasquino 2014-04-30T07:00:49For the upcoming European elections, most European parties have nominatedcandidates for President of the EU Commission. In the Brussels jargon, this issueis called the „Spitzenkandidat process“. How German is this idea? Does is actuallymake sense in other parliamentary systems or constitutional traditions?The idea is not particularly German. In UK and in Italy too the elections de factoand in principle designate the head of the executive. The problem is that the EUCommission is not the executive of the EU and that the institutional architecture ofthe EU is not the same as those of the member states, and also not yet very clear.If the „Spitzenkandidat process“ succeeds and the next Commission Presidentwill in fact be the top candidate of the party with the largest share of the vote – willhe/she then possess proper democratic legitimacy of his/her own right? And if so,how would that affect the power balance in the EU with respect to member stategovernments?Yes he/she will have an electoral (democratic) legitimacy. As to the second part ofyour question, my answer is auf deutsch: das wissen die Götter.How does a Westminster-style European Parliament organized along the lines ofgovernment and opposition match with the hard-won influence the Parliament hassecured for itself in the European legislation process (e.g. the informal „trilogue“meetings between Parliament, Commission and Council)?Too early to say.The linkage of the EP election with the  election of the Commission President, so thehope of its proponents, will help politicizing the European law-making process andthus ultimately strengthen its legitimacy. Is this a realistic expectation in a situationwhere the „Spitzenkandidat process“ will probably end in a continued PES/EPPGrand Coalition with an opposition dominated by eurosceptic and/or right-wingpopulist parties?Well, in that case EU will look like Germany. What is wrong with that?Can a European election without a European electoral law ever really be a Europeanelection?In principle this is possible. In my opinion the difficulty is elsewhere: the memberstates of the EU are like Zerlina in Mozart-Da Ponte Don Giovanni, they say: “Vorrei- 1 -e non vorrei” (I want and I do not want). They should make up their mind. For theupcoming European elections, most European parties have nominated candidatesfor President of the EU Commission. In the Brussels jargon, this issue is calledthe „Spitzenkandidat process“. How German is this idea? Does is actually makesense in other parliamentary systems or constitutional traditions?The idea is not particularly German. In UK and in Italy too the elections de factoand in principle designate the head of the executive. The problem is that the EUCommission is not the executive of the EU and that the institutional architecture ofthe EU is not the same as those of the member states, and also not yet very clear.If the „Spitzenkandidat process“ succeeds and the next Commission Presidentwill in fact be the top candidate of the party with the largest share of the vote – willhe/she then possess proper democratic legitimacy of his/her own right? And if so,how would that affect the power balance in the EU with respect to member stategovernments?Yes he/she will have an electoral (democratic) legitimacy. As to the second part ofyour question, my answer is auf deutsch: das wissen die Götter.How does a Westminster-style European Parliament organized along the lines ofgovernment and opposition match with the hard-won influence the Parliament hassecured for itself in the European legislation process (e.g. the informal „trilogue“meetings between Parliament, Commission and Council)?Too early to say.The linkage of the EP election with the  election of the Commission President, so thehope of its proponents, will help politicizing the European law-making process andthus ultimately strengthen its legitimacy. Is this a realistic expectation in a situationwhere the „Spitzenkandidat process“ will probably end in a continued PES/EPPGrand Coalition with an opposition dominated by eurosceptic and/or right-wingpopulist parties?Well, in that case EU will look like Germany. What is wrong with that?Can a European election without a European electoral law ever really be a Europeanelection?In principle this is possible. In my opinion the difficulty is elsewhere: the memberstates of the EU are like Zerlina in Mozart-Da Ponte Don Giovanni, they say: “Vorreie non vorrei” (I want and I do not want). They should make up their mind.- 2 -

Five Questions on the EP elections and the "Spitzenkandidat" process: Answers by PASQUALE PASQUINO

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Five Questions on the EP elections and the "Spitzenkandidat" process: Answers by PASQUALE PASQUINO

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