The 2014 European Parliament elections were also the first elections to take place after the Treaty of Lisbon , which prescribed that the European Council must take into account the elections to the European Parliament when proposing a candidate for President of the European Commission ( Article 17 ( 7 ) of the Treaty on European Union ). The Treaty had thus established a link between the result of the European elections and the appointment of the head of the EU ’ s executive .
Based on that provision , the main political parties appointed their lead candidates , on the understanding that the candidate of the political family that won the most seats in the elections would become the President of the European Commission . Accordingly , the 2014 elections witnessed a competition between the following candidates : Jean-Claude Juncker ( Group of the European People ’ s Party ), Martin Schulz ( Party of European Socialists ), Guy Verhofstadt ( Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ), José Bové and Ska Keller ( European Greens ) and Alexis Tsipras ( Party of the European Left ). The European People ’ s Party won the most seats , and Jean-Claude Juncker became the Commission President .
The lead candidate process , known mainly by its German name , Spitzenkandidaten , has created many debates and controversies within the EU . The 2014 elections are remembered primarily for this process , despite being the first European elections to take place after the financial and economic crisis , which had shaken the EU to its core . The EU ’ s response to the crisis had created many divisions between the Member States .
This chapter sheds light on the rationale behind the creation of the Spitzenkandidaten process , its ( lack of ) impact and its potential effects on the institutional set-up of the EU .
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