10
◼ AGENDA
● ThenewEuropeanCommissionpresidentshouldfixthe
systemthatlandedhertheEU’stopexecutive-branchjob◼BLOOMBERGOPINIONWrittenbytheBloombergOpinioneditorialboard ILLUSTRATIONBYALICEMONVAILLIERThenewpresidentoftheEuropeanCommission,Ursulavon
derLeyenofGermany,willhavenoshortageofpressingtasks
onheragenda.Amongthemosturgentshouldbereforming
thedysfunctionalprocessthatgotherthejob.
AstheheadoftheEuropeanUnion’sexecutivebranch,the
commissionpresidencyis powerful.ItsoccupantsetstheEU’s
policyagenda,allocateskeyportfolios,anddirectsa civilser-
viceofmorethan30,000.VonderLeyenwillfacechallenges
includinga Brexitdeadline,slowingEUgrowth,a tradedispute
withtheU.S.,anddisagreementsaboutfurtherintegration—not
to mention the possibility of another euro crisis.
Deciding who fills this essential role, however, is a mad-
dening game of thrones. To become the nominee, a candidate
must win over a qualified majority of the national leaders who
comprise the European Council. They’re supposed to “take
account” of the most recent parliamentary elections in mak-
ing their choice. Once nominated, the candidate must then
win an absolute majority in the European Parliament.
That’s convoluted enough. But the process has also
tended to get mixed up in continentwide horse trading over
the EU’s other top jobs. National leaders wrangled behind
closed doors over the right mix of geographic diversity, partyNo Way to Pick a Leader
representation, policy preferences, demographic attributes,
and so on. It was not exactly a model of transparency.
In 2014 the European Parliament sought to take this pro-
cess out of the smoke-filled room and give voters a greater say.
Under the so-called spitzenkandidat system, the main party
groups are supposed to nominate candidates, who are then
expected to publicly campaign for the job. This time, though,
both major party groupings failed to get their candidates
through, thanks to a more fragmented Parliament. Weeks of
haggling led to a surprise deal in which von der Leyen got the
top commission job, Christine Lagarde of France was nomi-
nated to head the European Central Bank, and Charles Michel
of Belgium was tipped as president of the European Council.
All three picks were defensible. But the process left
the Parliament weakened and was hardly open or demo-
cratic. Von der Leyen shouldn’t shy from trying to reform
it. One approach would be to add transnational party lists
to European Parliament elections, helping to make EU law-
makers accountable to a broader electorate. Giving national
parliaments a bigger say in EU policymaking would also
help, improving engagement and providing valuable feed-
back for EU legislators. Such changes could help ensure that
the higher turnout in the recent parliamentary elections—it
reached nearly 51%, reversing recent declines—will be trans-
lated into broader support for the EU project.
The goal should be to make Europe’s institutions less dis-
tant and bewildering to voters. If von der Leyen pushes for
that, she’ll have proved an inspired choice after all. <BW>TheU.K.’sConservativeswillannouncethetallyoftheir
leadershipballot—mailedtoall180,000partymembers—
onJuly23.Thenextday,eitherformerLondonMayor
BorisJohnsonorForeignSecretaryJeremyHuntwill
succeedTheresaMayasprimeminister.▶PakistaniPrimeMinister
ImranKhanmeetsPresident
TrumponJuly 22 atthe
WhiteHouse,wherethey’ll
seekgreatercooperation
betweenthetwonations.▶Amidgrowing
uncertaintyin globaltrade,
theWTOGeneralCouncil
willconveneonJuly 23
in Geneva.▶OnJuly 23 theEuropean
Unionwilldecideon
Vodafone’s$22billionbid
forLibertyGlobal’scable
assetsin Germanyand
centralEurope.▶OnJuly 24 former
specialcounselRobert
Muellertestifiesbeforetwo
congressionalcommittees
onhisreportonRussian
electioninterference.▶Morethan5,
participantsareexpected
toattendtheNextrise
startupconferencein
Seoul,whichbeginson
July23.▶ AB InBev, which recently
nixed plans for a Hong
Kong IPO, Volkswagen,
and other major European
companies will report
earnings on July 25.▶ Will It Be BoJo?
Bloomberg Businessweek July 22, 2019