The Influence of the Spitzenkandidat Process on the Role of the European Political Parties

The current paper discusses the evolving role of the European political parties through the process of the lead candidates for the presidency of the European Commission (Spitzenkandidat process) in an effort to indicate that politics can be brought back in EU’s democracy. Although discarded in 2019, the Spitzenkandidat process strengthened the European political parties’ role, from that of being service providers to being proactive campaigners. The campaign strategies are put under the microscope, namely the internal structure and the daily activities of the European political parties during the 2014 and 2019 campaigns. Data are collected based on qualitative, semi-structured and structured live interviews, conducted with leading experts of the campaigns who offer an inside view. Discussing the evolution of the European political parties’ role and their adopted strategies during the election campaigns, we aim to reflect on the potential of the Spitzenkandidat process to strengthen the politicisation of the EU.

Keywords:Spitzenkandidat, European political parties, European elections, election campaigns, politicisation, European Commission