Can the Conference on the Future of Europe unlock the EU elections reform? Reflections on transnational lists and the lead-candidate system

Despite the constant ‘parliamentarisation’ of the European Union, the supranational dimension of European elections remains limited. Forty years after its first elections, the European Parliament (EP) still suffers from two main problems: (i) its democratic representativeness is impaired by the diversity of national electoral rules and by the predominantly national dimension of electoral campaigns; and (ii) the impact of European elections on the appointment of the Commission remains uncertain, as the so-called lead-candidates (Spitzenkandidaten) procedure is only informal. Today, members of the EP (MEPs) are promoting a double strategy to fix these issues. They have decided to relaunch the reform process of the 1976 Act, notably regarding the creation of transnational lists and the formalisation of the lead-candidate procedure, and they encourage the Conference on the Future of Europe to consider these issues.