Výběr kandidátů do Evropského parlamentu v hlavních českých politických stranách

The paper analyses the candidate selection procedure in political parties before the elections to the European Parliament. It focuses on the four main Czech political parties: ČSSD, KDU-ČSL, KSČM and ODS. Findings from the analysis of written documents are compared with the results from a questionnaire survey among the candidates. The candidate selection in ČSSD and ODS was centralised around the narrow central executive with a candidacy closed only to party members. On the other hand, the candidate selection in KDU-ČSL and KSČM was more decentralised with final decision taken by wide central party bodies.