The abandonment of the Spitzenkandidaten System: (Un)sustainable democracy in the EU?

  • Dr. Carlos Espaliú Berdud Universidad de Nebrija
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-64-2021pp53-80
Keywords: participatory democracy, european citizens’ initiative, Spitzenkandidaten, single european constituency

Abstract

In the process of the parliamentarisation of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon took a further step forward by introducing into the founding treaties - Article 17.7 TEU- the need to take into account the elections to the European Parliament for the appointment of the President of the Commission. Nevertheless, the European Parliament has been trying to impose its interpretation of Article 17.7 TEU, which has been coined into the Spitzenkandidaten doctrine, according to which the head of the party winning the elections should be elected as Commission President. The Parliament succeeded in imposing its vision with the occasion of the appointment of Juncker in 2014. Nevertheless, by not proposing Manfred Weber, the leader of the most voted party in the 2019 elections, as President, the European Council has prevented the consolidation of the 2014 precedent. Article 17.7 of the TEU also expresses the desire to bring the European elections closer to the citizens, so that their opinion is taken into account when the President of the Commission is elected. And it seems that both the results of participation in 2019 and the perception of the voters show that the Spitzenkandidaten system has been useful for that purpose. In any event, I consider that the fact that citizens voted in the 2019 elections in the belief that their votes would be decisive in appointing the President of the Commission and, in the end, it was not elected an Spitzenkandidaten as head of the Commission, is a very serious lack of consideration for citizens.

Received:  03 February 2021
Accepted: 25 March 2021

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Author Biography

Dr. Carlos Espaliú Berdud, Universidad de Nebrija

Professor Espaliú got a scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Education (1995-1998), he has been Lecturer in the University of Navarre (Spain) (1998-2000), Legal Officer of the International Court of Justice (2000-2006) and Ramón y Cajal Researcher in the University of Córdoba (Spain) (2007-2012), Professor, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law and Director of the Charlemagne Institute of European Studies at the International University of Catalonia (2012-2018). At present, he is Professor in Public International Law and European Union Law, as well as Principal Investigator/Full Professor of the Research Group about Security, Risks Management and Conflicts of Nebrija University, Madrid (Spain). He obtained the accreditation as Associate Professor (ANECA) in 2011 and as Full Professor (AQU) in 2015. Furthermore, he has been awarded two six-years research periods (CNAI) and two six-years research periods (AQU). Regarding European Citizenship, he has published, among others, the following articles: A Reflection on the Participation of Individuals in the Creation of European Law through the European Citizens’ Initiative and its Scope in International Law, Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto, N.º 54, 2016, pp. 181-202; Fostering the Participation of Citizens as a Factor of Legitimacy in the European Integration Project, Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto, N.º 60/2019, pp. 157-185.

Published
2021-05-14
How to Cite
Espaliú Berdud, Carlos. 2021. “The Abandonment of the Spitzenkandidaten System: (Un)sustainable Democracy in the EU?”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 64 (May), 53-80. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-64-2021pp53-80.
Issue
No. 64 (2021): A sustainable Europe: Society, Politics and Culture in the Anthropocene
Section
Articles

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