Thomas Waitz and Mélanie Vogel, Co-Chairs of the European Green Party, said: "It should be a no-brainer that in European elections, Europeans should be able to vote for candidates running together in the whole European Union. Transnational lists make this possible. But the reluctance of most national governments (apart from Germany and France) shows once again that most member states prefer to use 'Brussels' as a scapegoat for national policies, instead of developing a political union in a meaningful way".
The General Affairs Council on Tuesday did not have a vote, but a 1-hour long debate on the electoral law. German Minister of State for Europe Anna Lührmann is the only Green politician in the General Affairs Council. She strongly supported transnational lists.
Thomas Waitz and Mélanie Vogel, Co-Chairs of the European Green Party:
"As a citizen, you should also have the right to know who your vote will put in power as the next President of the European Commission. Backroom horse-trading between member states in the European Council for the EU's top job can no longer be tolerated. For us Greens, each political family should be transparent and say who they will nominate as President of the Commission if they can gather a majority in the European Parliament. This Spitzenkandidaten system is crucial to give citizens the democratic choice they deserve in the EU elections. We will announce the names of the Green lead candidates at our Electoral Congress in Lyon in February, because we are not giving up on this”.
The European Greens decided at their congress in Vienna earlier this month that they will field a duo of lead candidates (Spitzenkandidaten) for the next presidency of the European Commission. In line with our feminist values, at least one of them should be a woman. Delegates from all European Green parties will elect the duo of Green Lead Candidates at the Electoral Congress in Lyon, France, from 2 to 4 February 2024.
Transnational lists and the system of Spitzenkandidaten are also key demands of a majority of the European Parliament, and of citizens as outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
While the representatives of the other political parties in the General Affairs Council on Tuesday were negative, the General Secretaries of the biggest European parties were still open to the idea in a roundtable discussion organized on Wednesday. The European Greens will continue to fight to make transnational lists and lead candidates a reality.
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