Article 17, para. 7 TEU and the Spitzenkandidaten Process
LLM, PhD, Adjunct Academic, Hellenic Open University, Member of the Board of Directors,
Greek Public Law Association, Attorney at Law
Compared to the pre-Lisbon regime, Article 17, para. 7 TEU sets a new, rather ambiguous parameter for the election of the Commission’s President: the results of the elections to the European Parliament. This institutional ambiguity can be observed on the way that this provision has been interpreted in the following two electoral procedures. In 2014, Jean-Claude Juncker, the lead candidate of the winning party was proposed by the European Council before the European Parliament in order to be elected, whilst in 2019 this example was not followed, choosing a candidate who was not endorsed by any European political party. This different perspective triggers the discussion on the future of the process with reference to the Commission President. The aim of this paper is to support the lead candidate system as it is in line with the well-established common constitutional tradition of parliamentary republic and strengthens the concept of European identity which consists a fundamental aim of the Treaties.
