It is no secret that English has replaced French as the EU’s lingua franca.
But since campaigning for the European elections officially kicked off after Commission President
Juncker’s State of the Union, the most used word in Brussels’ corridors is German - Spitzenkandidat.
The head of the European Commission used to be decided by the European Council,
behind closed doors.
EU leaders met directly after the elections to thrash out who would land the Commission's top job.
But in 2014, the EU chose the presidents of the three main institutions for the first
time via the Spitzenkandidaten or ‘lead candidate’ process.
The appointment did not depend on an agreement between EU leaders anymore, but on the results
of the elections.
Jean-Claude Juncker was appointed to lead the Commission as the common candidate of
all EPP-affiliated forces in the EU.
Socialist Martin Schulz on the other hand became president of the Parliament.
Here is how the Spitzenkandidaten process might work if the EU does indeed go down that
road once more in 2019: Each political group in Parliament is asked
to put forward its top candidate.
He or she leads the party alongside other candidates throughout the European election campaign.
For this purpose, most political groups will organise party congresses in the coming weeks,
where their delegates will pick their frontrunner.
By February at the latest, we should know who will be vying for the Commission throne in May.
Ideally, the Spitzenkandidaten will face off in debates before the elections,
as it was the case in 2014.
The contender belonging to the party that gets the most seats might then be recommended
to Parliament for confirmation as the new Commission president.
Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that the European Council, acting
by a qualified majority, shall propose to the Parliament a candidate by "taking into
account" the results of the European elections.
After the formal nomination, the Spitzenkandidat would have to be confirmed by MEPs.
What follows are usually hours of severe grilling, after which the Parliament will vote for or against him or her.
If approved, the new Commission chief will take office for the next five years.
However, if he or she does not obtain majority support, the European Council, acting by a qualified
majority again, will propose a new candidate within one month following the same procedure.
Sounds like all things are set?
Not entirely.
There are no firm guarantees that the jobs will be allocated this way in 2019.
For one thing, there’s nothing legally binding about the Spitzenkandidaten.
Last February, MEPs supported a resolution that rejects any back-door deals among EU
leaders on who to choose to lead the EU executive.
They insisted it will reject any candidate not chosen through the Spitzenkandidat system.
However, many EU leaders want the European Council to maintain the freedom of choice
to appoint the next Commission president.
Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, believe
that the old system guarantees stability and that it would be best to leave this to elected heads of states.
However a recent poll conducted among European voters shows that they believe the lead candidate
process is a positive step: 63% say it would create more transparency.
Most importantly nearly three quarters of respondents want this process to be accompanied
by a real debate about European issues and the future of the EU.
What are the predictions then?
If the Spitzenkandidat process is followed by heart, according to current poll predictions,
the candidate of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) has good chances to
take the top job again.
Although the link between national parties and European parties could be more difficult this time.
Besides the political groups, there will be other actors in the arena: a number of movements,
which don’t really align with any political group, have arrived on the European scene
that could shake up the whole traditional party lines.
French President Emmanuel Macron, for example, has not yet aligned his La République En
Marche movement with an existing European political family.
Then there is also the European Spring with Yanis Varoufakis and Volt Europa, and The
Movement of Steve Bannon, one-time guru to US President Donald Trump.
If EPP and the Socialists fail to win the majority of MEPs,
these movements could emerge as the kingmakers.
But whatever process is chosen in the end, things certainly remain very exciting.
Stay tuned at EURACTIV in the following weeks and months as we will vet the Spitzenkandidaten
as they are unveiled.