Who Won Europe?

Jun 17, 2014 Daniel Gros

The process of choosing the European Commission’s next president appears to be a conflict between the voice of the people, as expressed in last month’s European Parliament election, and backroom deal-making by governments. But reality is more complex, and the genuine democratic mandate did not go to the election's putative victor.

BRUSSELS – The fight over who will be the European Commission’s next president is heating up. Several European Union leaders were recently spotted in a small rowboat on a Swedish lake, reportedly scheming against the frontrunner, and British Prime Minister David Cameron has launched a public campaign to reassert the right of EU member states’ governments to decide who will occupy the EU’s executive arm.

The process of choosing the Commission’s president appears to be a conflict between the voice of the people, as expressed in the results of last month’s European Parliament election, and backroom deal-making by governments. But reality is more complex, and the genuine democratic mandate did not go to the person who claims to have “won” the election.

In the run-up to the election, the major European party “families” (there are no pan-European parties, only loose alliances of national parties) each nominated a Spitzenkandidat as their choice for President of the European Commission. The center-right European People’s Party, which gained a narrow plurality of 221 seats in the 751-seat parliament, has claimed victory in the election; and many others, including socialists, greens, and liberals, concur that the EPP’s Spitzenkandidat, Jean-Claude Juncker, has a moral right to be selected as President of the Commission.

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j. von Hettlingen Jun 23, 2014

Mr. Gros asks: "Who won Europe"? The European Parliament election is history! What lies ahead is a significant power struggle between candidates, who want to run Europe. Backstage there's a tug of war between heads of member-states, who are going to decide, who should run Europe. EU-critics say this wheeling and dealing pits national leaders and parliaments against European ones.
The issue of, who should elect the EU president proves to be even more devisive and threatens to split the EU this week. There are those who believe the decision should be taken by the European Parliament which is empowered by the peoples of Europe. Others argue only national leaders have the democratic legitimacy to pick the right man or woman to become the highest EU official.
As David Cameron is a vocal opponent of the "Spitzenkandidat", Jean-Claude Juncker, it could lead to Britain leaving the EU, should he fail to achieve his goal. He is conducting a witch-hunt against Juncker, because he doubts, if the former Luxembourgian prime minister is the right man to be the top Eurocrat and to lead reform in Brussels. A classic EU insider, with a deep knowledge of Europe's rules, Juncker is Angela Merkel's favoured candidate - a man devoted to further European integration. He is also someone, who prefers the secret, early-hours deal-making to the role of open persuader.
Juncker's supporters want to boost the influence of the European Parliament and believe his claim to the top job rests on democracy. He hails from the the biggest bloc in the European Parliament, the European People's Party, which brings together centre-right parties from across the EU, yet not the Conservatives). He claims a mandate after a series of televised presidential debates. Yet Cameron said it would be dangerous to give the European Parliament too much power, as it would undermine democracy back home in the member states. The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe had warned against the problems that the democratic principles of the European Parliament pose.
Martin Schulz, a candidate of the Socialists, sees this as part of a wider struggle to boost the influence of the European Parliament. Yet many fear, if Juncker becomes President of the EU Commission it will represent a power shift away from national governments.
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Val Samonis Jun 20, 2014

The truly important question is: WHO LOST EUROPE, and, more importantly, IS THERE ANYBODY WHO CAN SAVE EUROPE FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION 2 AND WARS?

Val Samonis
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Francesco Di Comite Jun 19, 2014

Just a clarification: I undersstood that Juncker's parties got almost 45.000.000 votes and the parties supporting Schultz just above 40.000.000. (see https://twitter.com/simonjhix/status/475606371225075712/photo/1) Is it not correct? Where can we find an official source on the issue?
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Mareike Kleine Jun 18, 2014

Interesting post, but ultimately not what the debate is about. It's a power play between the EP and the European Council on the one hand, and between the UK and Germany on the other.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/jean-claude-juncker-should-head-the-european-commission/
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