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Executive Selection in the European Union: Does the Commission President Investiture Procedure Reduce the Democratic Deficit?

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  • Hix, Simon

Abstract

Central to all democratic systems is the ability of citizens to choose who holds executive power. To reduce the democratic-deficit in the EU, therefore, the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties give the European Parliament (EP) a vote on the European Council nominee for Commission President. The effect, so many commentators claim, is a parliamentary model: where EP elections are connected via an EP majority to executive selection. However, these claims are misplaced. There are no incentives for national parties to compete for the Commission President, and every incentive for MEPs to abide by national-party rather than EP-party wishes. The result is that EP elections are second-order national contests, fought by national parties on national executive performance, and that the winning coalition in the investiture procedure is of prime ministers parties not of EP election victors. Consequently, for a parliamentary model to work, either the EP should go first in the investiture process, or the link between domestic parties and MEPs should be broken. However, if EP elections remain second-order, the only option may be a presidential model, where the Commission President is directly-elected.

Suggested Citation

  • Hix, Simon, 1997. "Executive Selection in the European Union: Does the Commission President Investiture Procedure Reduce the Democratic Deficit?," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 1, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:erp:eiopxx:p0022
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nentwich, Michael & Falkner, Gerda, 1997. "The Treaty of Amsterdam: Towards a New Institutional Balance," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 1, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stefan Napel & Mika Widgrén, 2008. "The European Commission–Appointment, preferences, and institutional relations," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 21-41, October.
    2. Özdemir, Sina & Rauh, Christian, 2022. "A Bird’s Eye View: Supranational EU Actors on Twitter," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 133-145.
    3. Hermann Schmitt & Sara Hobolt & Sebastian Adrian Popa, 2015. "Does personalization increase turnout? Spitzenkandidaten in the 2014 European Parliament elections," European Union Politics, , vol. 16(3), pages 347-368, September.
    4. Muntean, Andrei M., 2000. "The European Parliaments Political Legitimacy and the Commissions Misleading Management: Towards a Parliamentarian European Union?," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 4, May.
    5. Rauh, Christian, 2022. "Clear messages to the European public? The language of European Commission press releases 1985–2020," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-19.
    6. Adrian Kay, 2003. "Evaluating Devolution in Wales," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 51(1), pages 51-66, March.
    7. Sina Özdemir & Christian Rauh, 2022. "A Bird’s Eye View: Supranational EU Actors on Twitter," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 133-145.

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