The European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) discussed again, on Thursday 24 September, the issue of transnational electoral lists and head-list candidates (‘Spitzenkandidaten’) in the European elections.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had undertaken to give priority to these two topics at the Conference on the Future of Europe (see EUROPE 12550/20), which had been due to begin in the Spring.
It had also been agreed that proposals for transnational lists would be made within the first six months of the event. Hence the interest for MEPs to keep this issue high on the political agenda.
The subject, however, is still not unanimous in the Parliament. Several political groups, led by the EPP, maintain their reservations about giving European voters a second vote on transnational lists drawn up in European constituencies headed by a Spitzenkandidate.
A process that would allow citizens to have a greater say in who the future President of the European Commission will be.
What added value? Acknowledging the need to engage with the issue of head-list candidates, Vladimír Bilčík (EPP, Slovakia) said he was “much more sceptical” about the principle of transnational lists.
“Unless we have the answer of what would be the practical added value of transnational MEPs”, he said, adding that he feared it would upset the balance of power between small and large Member States.
“Transnational lists mean above all that people may be represented by MEPs who do not speak the same language as their constituents. How could such a system reinforce the connection between constituents and MEPs?”, asked Gunnar Beck (Identity and Democracy, Germany).
Other MEPs, on the other hand, believe that this system would make it possible to create more links and to give the elections a more European tone.
Democratic progress. “I would like to know how we can bring European citizens closer together more effectively than by allowing them to vote directly for the future President of the Commission!”, Pascal Durand (Renew Europe, France) insisted.
Guy Verhofstadt (Renew Europe, Belgium), the Parliament's candidate to lead the Conference (see EUROPE 12417/5), for his part, recalled that the establishment of the only Spitzenkandidaten in the last elections had failed and prevented any “democratic progress”.
The European People's Party (EPP) came out on top again in the European elections in May 2019 and won the Commission Presidency. While the EPP Spitzenkandidate was the German Christian Democrat Manfred Weber, it was his compatriot Ursula von der Leyen who was finally chosen by the European Council. In 2014, Mrs von der Leyen’s predecessor, Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker, was the EPP Spitzenkandidate, but he was not a candidate for a parliamentary seat.
Mr Verhofstadt called on the European Parliament to return to the original agreement on transnational lists reached in the Parliament in 2014 and since then blocked in the EU Council.
“If we don’t, we give all the power to the EU Council and the Member States. This is what happened in 2019”, he regretted, calling on MEPs to find a consensus.
“It is obvious that the European elections are not European elections. Twenty-seven national elections are a bit about Europe and a lot about their country’s political problems”, said former French MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who was invited to take part in the debate.
“Technical Feasibility”. Lastly, this meeting gave rise to the presentation of a study carried out by the European Parliament's research services on the “technical feasibility” of these transnational lists.
In particular, the study concludes that no amendment to the European treaties would be necessary to create such lists, as the treaties do not require all MEPs to be elected on a national basis.
However, at least two pieces of EU legislation would need to be amended - namely the decision currently establishing the composition of the European Parliament and the EU Electoral Law. This is the result of a complex process involving, in particular, unanimity in the EU Council.
The entry into force of any such amendment would, in the end, depend on the approval of the national parliaments. It could also require constitutional changes in at least one Member State, Austria, and amendments to the electoral law in fifteen of them. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)