Yes, there are more far-right MEPs – but the mainstream parties still hold the key to the EU’s agenda
On the run up to the European Parliament (EP) elections, many observers were fearful that we were about to experience a far-right surge. Now that the dust has settled and all results are in, this narrative has stubbornly persisted. Yet it’s a misleading narrative. Instead, we’ve seen a steady rise over the past 25 years, […]
Is the EU’s Spitzenkandidaten procedure fit for the future?
To look beyond the rather simplistic dichotomy of the lead candidate procedure’s success and failure, this CEPS Explainer analyses the procedure’s past performance, outlines the impact that it has had in 2014 and 2019 and teases out some general conditions that would need to be met for the procedure to be more successful in 2029. […]
How to make the European elections more European
As we rapidly approach the 2024 European Parliament (EP) elections, once again we are witnessing the discrepancy between the increased importance that the EP plays in EU citizens’ lives and the transnational character of most of today’s issues on the one hand, and the national character that the EP elections still have on the other. […]
Why the EU really needs to start worrying about hateful propaganda
Few things seem certain in life – death, the constant rain in Brussels and the far-right surge in the European Parliament (EP) come 9 June, which is likely to significantly tip the EP’s balance of power. Having a strong anti-EU faction within the EU institutions is not just a fever dream anymore – it could […]
The lead candidate procedure isn’t dead – but it’s no longer what its inventors intended it to be
The lead candidate (or Spitzenkandidaten) procedure is where the European political parties appoint their lead candidates on the understanding that the candidate of the party that wins the most seats becomes the President of the European Commission. This worked in 2014, when the EPP’s candidate Jean-Claude Juncker became Commission President. However, it was widely seen […]