The development of European political foundations and their role in strengthening Europarties

Abstract

In recent years, one of the most interesting and potentially promising developments in European Union (EU) party politics has been the establishment of European political foundations. At the time of writing, no less than 12 European political foundations are active in Brussels and beyond, and the total EU grant available to them for 2012 amounted to almost 12 million euro. However, very little is known as to how exactly these European political foundations perform their tasks. Taking stock of the first five years of their operation, this article analyses European political foundations empirically and comparatively, based on the study of primary resources and a number of semi-structured interviews, alongside existing research. The central questions concern the purposes European political foundations serve and the nature of their relationship with Europarties. From a theoretical perspective, this article addresses the issue of the development of European political foundations within the wider debate on EU party politics, and offers a number of insights regarding the actual and potential role of European political foundations in strengthening Europarties.