S5 Ep44: Backstage: Key policy positions of the Spitzenkandidaten

Giuseppe Porcaro hosts Bruegel director Guntram Wolff and
visiting fellow Rebecca Christie to reflect on the key policy
positions taken by the candidates for the European Commission
presidency, ahead of May's elections.


European elections are fast approaching. With them comes not just
a visit to the polls, but the beginning of a sequence involving
the European Parliament and the Council that will eventually
decide who becomes the next president of the Commission. The
Spitzenkandidaten process sees each of the parties put forward
their nominated candidate - or candidates - one of whom should
eventually assume the presidency, if the various criteria can be
met.


Looking back upon Bruegel's recent six-part series of events,
held in partnership with the Financial Times, the discussants
assess the candidates' views on Europe's future industrial policy
path, the EU's stance on the growing trade dispute between the US
and China, as well as the most vital and realistic euro-area
reforms for the next five years. The debate also considers how
each of the candidates might be positioning themselves and their
parties in the complex process of selecting a new president.


Giuseppe Porcaro leads the review with Bruegel visiting fellow
Rebecca Christie and director Guntram Wolff, in this special
edition of the Backstage series.


If you would like to review the series in more depth, we
recommend our blog post: ‘Spitzenkandidaten visions for the
future of Europe’s economy’, which contains extracts and video
clips from the events. You can also visit the main page for our
Spitzenkandidaten series, to review the content in full.