EU election debate exposes weakness of lead candidate system

6 months ago 25

The first debate for the upcoming European election exposed the weakness of the lead candidate ‘Spitzenkandidat’ system, with low viewing figures and low-profile candidates casting a shadow on the process, experts said.

The Spitzenkandidaten of the European parties clashed on Monday in the first debate for the 2024 European election, which the University of Maastricht and Politico organised, but observers were largely unimpressed.

“The debate showed the current weaknesses of the system,” noted Luise Quaritsch, an expert on European politics at the Jacques Delors Centre think tank, pointing to the relatively obscure debate participants and a narrow public audience.

“There were around 2,500 live viewers on YouTube, neither the media nor the candidates nor the parties massively advertised the debate, so there is still a lack of interest and public attention”, Quaritsch told Euractiv, adding that some of the candidates also were “not properly prepared.”

While the number of viewers rose to 15,000 during the night, it is still a relatively low figure for an election with some 350 million eligible voters.

EU leaders introduced the idea that voter choices would matter in selecting the chief of the EU executive ahead of the 2014 election. But the principle took a significant hit after the heads of state and government picked Ursula von der Leyen for the top job in 2019 despite her not being in the running.

When she first took office, Von der Leyen pledged to strengthen the lead candidate process for the 2024 election, but following the debate, the Spitzenkandidaten system appears weaker than ever.

Low-profile candidates, little attention

Almost half of the lead candidates sent into the race are unlikely to have a chance to make it into the European Parliament. While Maylis Roßberg of the European Free Alliance and Valeriu Ghilețchi of the European Christian Political Movement are not even standing as MEPs, the Austrian communist Walter Baier of the European Left is not expected to get enough votes.

Patrick Bijsmans, associate dean for education and professor at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University, also highlighted that the debaters were lower profile and less engaging than in 2019.

“It was maybe less of a debate than last time because some people present last time found it easier to debate,” he told Euractiv, referencing EU heavyweights such as then-Socialist lead candidate Frans Timmermans.

“[This time], the representatives of the Social Democrats and Liberals were not very engaging and sometimes even read things off the paper,” said Bijsmans, pointing to Socialist Nicolas Schmit and Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the lead candidate for the liberal ALDE.

However, some other candidates also showed the potential of the Spitzenkandidaten principle, Quaritsch said, pointing out that von der Leyen’s opponents cornered her occasionally.

The Commission president’s debate with Green lead candidate Bas Eickhout was “the highlight of the debate”, she said.

Under pressure from the Dutchman, an experienced MEP, von der Leyen revealed her stance regarding potential collaboration with right-leaning parties.

She also saw herself forced to defend her green policy record in office, which her conservative party family has tried to distract from during the campaign.

However, the debate will likely have little impact on the electorate or the vote outcome.

“Probably no one got a real advantage in the form of votes [from the debate] because the attention was too low for that,” Quaritsch from the Jacques Delors Centre observed.

*Max Griera contributed reporting

[Edited by Oliver Noyan/Alice Taylor]