13. Europeanization and Political Parties

Abstract

This chapter examines the ways in which the European Union and the political parties of member states interact and cause change. It considers various types of change, causal mechanisms, and the differences between parties and the EU in both older and newer member states. The chapter first provides an overview of the different partisan actors that operate in the multi-level system of domestic and EU politics before discussing the manner in which domestic political parties can be said to have ‘Europeanized’. It then shows how parties in older and newer member states differ and concludes with an assessment of the wider effects of Europeanization on domestic politics in general and party politics in particular. The chapter suggests that the EU’s influence, in both east and west, may be more significant in the long run in terms of its indirect impact on patterns of party competition.