How does Europe choose its top leader? The European Council nominates a candidate for President of the European Commission, but the process involves many steps. The candidate has to pass through parliament and lay out a vision. But what is the process like and what should be considered?

Nominated by the European Council

The process of electing a president of the European Commission starts with the European Council nominating a candidate, a process which is laid out in the Treaty of the European Union’s article 17. There is no formal criteria for which qualifications a candidate should have, but in practice there are a few things that come into play. The candidate will be nominated at the same time as the president of the European Council, the High Representative, and at the same time as the European Parliament chooses their president. Therefore, the council will often try to balance the appointments and nominations with respect to: region, party, and gender. In practice, the different groups will look at which groups can form a majority in the parliament and then gather in the council in the groups, who can form a majority. These will often also negotiate which policies should be of priority for the commission. Even though the council nominates the candidate, it does not have free reigns, as it was decided in 2014 that the Spitzenkandidat system would be implemented.

The new ‘Spitzenkandidat’-system

The implementation of the Spitzenkandidat system meant that before the election to the European Parliament, each party would present a lead candidate for president of the commission, who will then participate in debates and be the face of the campaign. This was introduced to democratise the composition of the commission, and the largest party should have an influence on who is elected. The lead candidate does not have to be chosen, as it was the case in 2019, when the EPP candidate, Manfred Weber, was not chosen as the nominee. 

The European Parliament votes

After the European Council has nominated its candidate, the European Parliament has to vote on the nominee. For a candidate to pass through the vote, a majority of all MEPs has to vote in favour, as the proposal has to be passed with an absolute majority. Should the parliament choose not to vote approve of the candidate, the council has a month to nominate a new candidate on which the parliament will then vote on. But before the vote does take place, the candidate has to go through hearings in the different parliamentary groups, where they will be asked questions of importance to the MEPs, who are going to elect the president. Even though the groups will gather in the council to form a majority based on the result of the election to the European Parliament, this does not mean a candidate will pass a vote in parliament, as MEPs often have national or personal interests.

Structure of a term

When a candidate has been nominated by the European Council and approved by the European Parliament, they will work together with the council to adopt a list of commissioner designees from each country. The president’s term will then last five years, where their commission will have to work together with the councils and the parliament to adopt new legislation and set a path for the union.