Lead candidates 

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The European Parliament has long sought to ensure that, by voting in European elections, citizens not only elect the Parliament itself but also have a say over who will lead the European Commission.

In order to ”Europeanise” the elections and to boost the democratic legitimacy of EU decision-making, Parliament called on the European political parties to nominate candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission. This allows for citizens to influence directly, through their vote in the European elections, the choice of the head of the European executive. This procedure has become known as the Spitzenkandidaten process, in which European political parties designate one candidate each for the post of EU Commission President ahead of the European elections. Parliament laid out its position for the upcoming elections in 2023.

The system of lead candidates was introduced for the first time at the 2014 elections, when it resulted in the election of Jean-Claude Juncker.

Following the May 2019 European elections, the European Council proposed Ursula von der Leyen to the European Parliament as candidate for President of the European Commission. She was not a lead candidate.

Ahead of this year’s European elections, Parliament confirmed the importance of applying the lead candidate mechanism (the “Spitzenkandidaten” process), in which European political parties designate one candidate each for the post of EU Commission President ahead of the European elections. Parliament laid out its position for the upcoming elections in 2023.

MEPs insist that a clear and credible link between the choice of voters and the position of the Commission President is necessary. They say that, based on the EU Treaties, this choice should depend on the candidate securing majority support in Parliament and call on the European Council to end the practice of making behind closed doors deals.

As of now, several political parties have announced their lead candidates.