POLITICAL GROUPS AND SPITZENKANDIDATEN IN THE 2014 ELECTIONS FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
POLITICAL GROUPS AND SPITZENKANDIDATEN IN THE 2014 ELECTIONS FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Summary/Abstract: The academic literature on the issue of democracy in the European Union includes various calls for a bolder personalization of the electoral competition, in order to improve citizen participation. Frequently associated with the debates on the so-called “democratic deficit” of the EU, these approaches generally provide several other recommendations leading to a more majoritarian type of government for the European polity. The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, in December 2009, strengthened the European Parliament’s position in the EU political system and gave a new impetus to the pro-integration forces operating within it. While asserting its new role as the EU body enjoying the highest degree of direct democratic legitimacy, the European Parliament found itself in a favorable position to challenge an important prerogative of the EU’s primary inter-governmental body, the European Council: the decisive input in the process of nominating the European Commission president. The European political groups had surprisingly different reactions to the new institutional framework. The three political families that had so far dominated EU politics produced fairly conventional – though by no means similar – responses, while the smaller groups, with the exception of the far left, opted for less conventional ones.

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