Abstract
AbstractAt this stage of European integration and given the high degree of Europe's politicization and salience caused by the recent global financial crisis, representative democracy in the EU can only function if parties mobilize beyond borders. We examine whether European Party Groups (EPG) in the European Parliament (EP) offer distinct policy alternatives and how coherent these are. We use party position data collected by two Voting Advice Applications designed for the 2009 and 2014 EP elections, respectively (EUProfiler and Euandi). We find evidence of competition between EPGs groups on both left right issues and European integration; on the latter issue, there is greater differentiation within the anti‐EU camp. Coherence within EPG exists, though it varies across issues, EPGs and between election years examined: it is greater on European integration than on left–right issues and it is particularly high for right wing eurosceptics though for most parties it deteriorates between 2009 and 2014.
Highlights
European Party Groups (EPG) are dispersed on the four issue spaces and both sides of each issue are occupied in both election years, providing support for H1
Looking at EPG competition on the three left–right issues, we see that they are dispersed on each issue space, indicating that the aggregation of national politics at the European Parliament (EP) level results in differentiated policy supply
Our study of competition and coherence during a period of crisis (2009 and 2014 EP elections) contributes to this literature in three ways: first, to previous works, EPGs occupy both sides of four key political issues investigated: welfare, immigration, same-sex unions and European integration
Summary
Party Politics, Vol 23, No 4, pp. (2002) Linking National Politics to Europe (London: Foreign Policy Centre). (2003) ‘The Party System in the European Parliament: Collusive or Competitive?’ JCMS, Vol 41, No 2, pp. (2005) ‘Power to the Parties: Cohesion and Competition in the European Parliament, 1979–2001’. British Journal of Political Science, Vol 35, No 2, pp. (2006) ‘Dimensions of Politics in the European Parliament’. American Journal of Political Science, Vol 50, No 2, pp. Journal of European Public Policy, Vol 21, No 10, p. (2015) ‘How the European Debt Crisis Reshaped National Political Space: The Case of Greece’. European Union Politics, Vol 17, No 2, pp. European Union Politics, Vol 17, No 2, pp. 262–84
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
