The European Union and the choice of the president of the commission

Despite the ‘Sptizenkandidaten procedure’ was adopted in 2014, in 2019 the EuropeanCouncil broke with this method returning to a more intergovernmental process in the choice ofthe President of the European Commission. Many authors believe that the ‘Sptizenkandidatenmethod’ was fundamental to assure the legitimacy of the supranational institutions. However, thispaper argues that this outcome is not surprising, as it results from the balance between thesupranational and national institutions that coexist in the EU. To explain the argument this paperask the following research questions: (1) What are the differences between 2014 and 2019 thatmay explain this evolution? (2) What does this process tells us about the political nature, theprospects of evolution, and the concepts of legitimacy and democracy of the European Union?The paper will unfold as following: in the first section it analysis the theoretical elements thatexplain the likelihood of change. The next three sections it will look at the empirical elements –independent variables – that changed the balance of power of the European political parties andtowards member-states leading to this outcome. Those elements are (1) new perspectives ofpowerful political leaders; (2) new institutional balances within the European institutions; and (3)the new distribution of power in the European Parliament.