"The debate showed the current weaknesses of The System," noted Luise Quaritsch, an expert on European politics at the Jacques Delors Centre think tank, pointing to the relatively obscure debate participants and a narrow [sic] public audience.

"There were around 2,500 live viewers on YouTube, neither the media nor the candidates nor the parties massively advertised the debate, so there is still a lack of interest and public attention", Quaritsch told Euractiv, adding that some of the candidates also were "not properly prepared."

While the number of viewers rose to 15,000 during the night, it is still a relatively low figure for an election with some 350 million eligible voters.

EU leaders introduced the idea that voter choices would matter in selecting the chief of the EU executive [European Commission] ahead of the 2014 election. But the principle took a significant hit after the heads of state and government picked Ursula von der Leyen for the top job in 2019 despite her not being in the running [or a "transnational" ballot].
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European elections are held every five years to elect your representatives in the European Parliament, the world's only directly elected transnational assembly.
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How are EU leaders appointed?

Following the elections, the European Parliament votes to approve the new President of the European Commission, as well as the entire College of Commissioners. The new European Commission is then appointed by the European Council.