The Influence of the Spitzenkandidat Process on the Role of the European Political Parties

During the pre-Lisbon elections, the European political parties were perceived as service providers, adopting manifestos, facilitating political dialogue and avoiding involvement in mainstream political conduct, in contrast to the national political parties. Their role was limited to the distribution of election material, the organisation of events and the preparation of heads of state or government summits. Yet, in 2014 and 2019 professional campaigning tools were employed by the European political parties, following the nominations of their lead candidates (Spitzenkandidaten) for the presidency of the European Commission. In this regard, this paper argues that the role of the European political parties was strengthened from that of being service providers to being proactive campaigners and important actors in setting the policy agenda. Data are collected on the basis of qualitative, semi-structured and structured live interviews, conducted with the experts involved in the 2014 and 2019 election campaigns who offer insights about the structure of the campaigns, the then daily activities and the strategies adopted by the European political parties.