European integration has little impact on national party politics, research shows
European integration has had little impact on national party politics in the EU, and EU specialists, including MEPs, are often excluded from internal party politics. These are two of the major findings from new research looking at the phenomenon of 'Europeanisation', the process whereby national political parties adapt to change brought about by European integration. A team of international researchers carried out in depth studies of parties in six countries (Austria, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden). The work was funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). They found that the parties studied had undergone only limited structural changes as a result of European integration. 'They have created few internal positions dedicated to EU affairs and have devoted only limited resources to the management of European issues,' the researchers write in their report. Meanwhile EU specialists, defined as those whose activity is closely related to the process of European governance, have little influence within their national political parties and have only limited access to the centres of power within the party. This also applies to MEPs. 'MEPs [...] tend to remain remote from their respective parties in terms of the attention paid to their activities,' the researchers state. 'While they have gained considerable powers as European legislators, this has not translated into any real domestic intra-party power.' In contrast the party elites have gained power, and the researchers note that although many factors are behind this rise in power, some of it can be explained by their participation in arenas of European-level governance. 'Related to this increase in power, when in government, party elites may be able to use the 'cover of the EU' to pursue domestic agendas that would otherwise be considered risky,' the researchers add. 'In other words they might be able to use the argument that 'Brussels made me do it'.' According to the researchers, these findings applied in all countries and parties. There are a number of reasons behind these trends, the researchers note. One is a lack of money. 'Parties are reticent to create new positions within their organisations that are devoted to EU affairs because resources within parties are endemically scarce,' the researchers write, noting that parties tend to reply on other sources, such as European Parliament budgets, for these activities. Another reason is that European integration has little effect on the parties' chances of electoral success. 'Domestic issues continue to dominate electoral contests in most cases, and party leaderships continue to maintain a domestic focus in their election promises,' the researchers write. Furthermore, the EU continues to be considered as 'foreign policy' by most party actors. This means that EU specialists attract little attention, while party elites, especially government ministers, have gained power. 'The lack of real interest in European affairs at party level gives those engaged in EU decision-making substantial room for manoeuvre in negotiations,' explains Professor Thomas Poguntke of the Ruhr University Bochum, who was involved in the research. He also suggests that these decision makers are not being held fully accountable for their actions at EU level. 'The findings of the project have important implications for the internal functioning of parties, and for questions of democratic control, accountability, representation and legitimacy, both at the national and the EU-level,' the researchers conclude.
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