The Fall of the Spitzenkandidaten: Political Parties and Conflict in the 2019 European Parliament Elections

Abstract

This chapter discusses the failure of the Spitzenkandidaten process in the 2019 European Parliament elections. None of the declared Spitzenkandidaten became President of the European Commission. It argues that, given the scepticism in the European Council about the procedure and the continued second-order nature of the European Parliament elections, the success of the Spitzenkandidaten process depended on strong support for the candidate among the mainstream party groups in the European Parliament. Manfred Weber – Spitzenkandidat for the victorious centre right EPP – did that command that support. The chapter identifies two key factors in the campaign and its run-up that fractured the centre in the European Parliament. First, the EPP’s vote against transnational lists in February 2018 meant both the Liberals and the Social Democrats felt less compelled to support the EPP Spitzenkandidat. Second, Weber’s tacit support for Victor Órban and the democratic backsliding in Hungary he orchestrated made him a toxic candidate for other mainstream party groups. Combined, these two factors meant that Manfred Weber’s argument that it was ‘the democratic thing to do’ to make him Commission President did not resonate. His failure opened up the possibility for Ursula von der Leyen to become the first female President of the European Commission.