Dimensions of disagreement in EU affairs: is parliamentary opposition driven by left-right or European integration contestation?

Abstract

This study provides new insights into how the EU dimension relates to the left-right dimension in national politics. It does so by examining to what extent parties’ oppositional behaviour in EU affairs in parliament is a function of their distance from the government, other parties, the voters and party supporters on the EU dimension and the left-right dimension, respectively. The results suggest that oppositional behaviour is determined by two parallel dynamics: when expressing opposition, political parties are receptive both to the positions of the government and other parties on the EU dimension, and to the positions of voters and supporters on the left-right dimension. The results of the study thus indicate that the politicisation of EU affairs in national parliaments primarily is an elite phenomenon. In their relation to the voters and supporters, parties still principally navigate along the traditional left-right dimension.