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The #Spitzenkandidaten system is dead. But the EU could revive it. How? 1/
Option 1: Reverse nomination. EP nominates COM president and the European Council elects by QMV. Would allow EP to nominate Spitzenkandidat. Originally proposed by @AndrewDuffEU and others in the EU's constitutional convention. Problem: requires treaty change. 2/ 
Option 2: Election of COM president in European Assembly composed of EP and equal nr of members elected by national parliaments (similar to Federal Convention in Ger for election of President). Would encourage coordination among European parties. Treaty change necessary. 3/
Option 3: transnational lists. They strengthen European parties, but would raise expectation among citizens of a direct election of COM pres without actually being one. Candidate with largest vote share would gain only plurality of vote. Unlikely to solve the issue. 4/
Option 4 (could be achieved more realistically): require the European Council to nominate a MEP for COM president. Would incentivize any potential contender for COM presidency to run in EP elections & participate in campaigns. Additional benefit: procedure stays the same, ... 5/
...no treaty change, but a legal protocol to the Treaties would have to be crafted. EP could make its approval of @vonderleyen college conditional on the adoption of this protocol by European Council. It would clarify the phrase "taking into account the elections to the EP". 6/
There are precedents for such a rule. In fact, several national constitutions REQUIRE the head of government to be also a member of parliament. Examples include Ireland, Japan, and Lithuania. END/
