Banner for the digital campaign “ This Time I am Voting ” for the EP elections 2019 | © European Union
2009 , Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union was applied , according to which the European Council , by qualified majority , proposes to the European Parliament a candidate for the office of President of the Commission , taking into account the outcome of the elections , and thus strengthening the ability of the citizens ’ vote to influence the EU ’ s democratic processes . In 2014 , the Spitzenkandidaten ( lead candidate ) process was successful , and Jean-Claude Juncker was elected by the European Parliament as Commission President , after having been nominated as the lead candidate for the Group of the European People ’ s Party ( EPP ), and after the EPP had obtained the largest share of the vote in the elections .
In 2019 , the major European political parties had each nominated a candidate for President – Manfred Weber for the EPP and Frans Timmermans for the Party of European Socialists – but even these two largest parties were aware of the inevitable need to reach agreement after the elections . After delicate negotiations , in which the political groups in Parliament could not agree on a common
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