2014 ELECTIONS AND PREPARATION BY EUROPEAN POLITICAL PARTIES

Having announced that they will present a leading candidate for the Commission’s presidency and that this candidate will campaign in the EU’s 28 Member States, the four major European political parties have set an ambitious target. The challenge is that European political parties gather members from different countries with different political sensitivities. In this context, drafting a common European programme that can appeal to all party members and even all EU citizens across borders is a complex task. Hence, the common manifestos of the EU parties are unlikely to be published before the first months of 2014. It is also likely that these programs will leave some margin for manoeuver to adjust to national contexts or nationally grounded issues. The same challenge exists for the designation/election of the leading candidate of each party.

However, it is expected that all political parties will produce a common manifesto and announce their candidate for the Commission presidency, chosen according to internally-defined procedures, before March 2014. This seems likely for practical reasons (to campaign in all 28 Member States) but also because the EPP announced an official launch of the campaign on 6-7 March 2014. Thus it can be assumed that other political groupings will align their timeline with this.

1. European People’s Party (EPP)

The leaders of the EPP, who met in Vienna on 20 June 2013 for a Summit of heads of state and government, discussed the preparations for the 2014 electoral campaign and decided that the EPP will launch its European campaign at its Dublin Congress on 6-7 March 2014. In addition to the EPP Summit, a meeting of Secretary Generals of EPP member parties took place in order to coordinate actions between the EU-level and national campaigns for the 2014 European elections.

The declaration on “New Growth and Jobs in Europe” is likely to be a basis for the EPP’s common manifesto.

2. Party of European Socialists (PSE)

At the end of 2011, the Party of European Socialists (PES) decided on the following indicative timeline to ensure both public awareness of the candidate and the efficiency of the campaign:

•  1 October 2013 – Opening of nominations: candidacies, letters of nomination and support should be sent to the PES secretariat.
•  October 2013 – Leaders’ Conference.
•  31 October 2013 – Close of nominations.
•  1st week of November 2013 – PES presidency meeting to check candidacies and set up electoral committee. Candidacies are made public.
•  1 December 2013 to 31 January 2014 – Internal selection procedure within each full member Party and organisation
•  February 2014 – The PES will convene an extraordinary Congress to ratify the election of the candidate and to vote upon the Manifesto.

In June 2013, the PES adopted its Fundamental Programme, defining its priorities for the upcoming decade. The manifesto for the 2014 elections will strongly draw on the principles set down in this document. The leading members of the PES have also stressed their intention to strongly involve socialist activists in the campaign for 2014.

3. Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE)

The Liberals should adopt the common manifesto at their Congress in London on 29-30 November  2013. On this occasion, they also plan to open the procedure to officially designate their leading candidate for the European Commission’s presidency.

Nominations should be ready for 19 December 2013, before the European Council. The Liberals said that if several candidates were interested in the position, an internal election would take place in February 2014 during a special political meeting.

4. European Green Party (EGP)

Green party leaders from all over the EU agreed on common rules for the upcoming Green Primary. Earlier this summer, the European Green Party (EGP) announced its third common campaign, with an innovative open online primary to select its leading candidates for the 2014 European elections.

Member Parties can nominate candidates between 4 September and 20 October 2013. Candidates must acquire the support of at least four and a maximum of eight of the 33 EGP Member Parties from the EU. All EU parties have the right to support one candidate. Between November and the end of January 2014, everyone living in the EU above the age of 16 who shares Green values will be eligible to participate. Through an online process, they will directly choose the two leading Green candidates who will serve as the heart and face of the campaign across the EU.