The Irish Green Party and Europe: An Unhappy Marriage?

Abstract

To what extent is the Irish Green Party affected by the presence of an additional, European arena next to the domestic one? The answer is twofold. Organizationally, the Irish Green Party drew on the experience and support of the pan‐European Green Party Federation and more developed Green parties in other countries. The European arena also provided a platform for electoral success and thereby an important route to resources used to professionalize the organization. Programmatically, and despite the above, the positioning of the Green Party towards European integration has always been ambivalent. European environmental law is more demanding than national law and environmental problems often ask for international solutions which, theoretically, should be welcomed by the party. Yet their fight for direct citizen participation makes them wary of shifting power to a polity whose democratic credentials are contested. While the Green Party originally opposed Europe, they have become more differentiated and constructive over time, pushing for democratization whilst simultaneously viewing the EU as an arena in which desired policies are generated. Having entered government at a national level in 2007, its closer involvement in EU decision‐making should reinforce this trend.