Long-Term Trends and Recent Changes in Party Politics at EU Level

Abstract

The past ten years have seen a steady growth in the scope of activities of political parties at European level (also known as Europarties). First, the introduction of a system for the funding of Europarties, which additionally allowed to establish European political foundations, made them less dependent on their political groups in the European Parliament, and led to a large increase in staff size. Second, political developments in EU politics created a room for a greater coordination of partisan activities at the EU ministerial level and perhaps most importantly, led to viable proposals that Europarties should nominate their candidate for the European Commission Presidency. One of the major questions is what type of consequences these recent changes have for Europarties in particular and on EU politics in general. The aim to this panel is to examine some long-term trends and recent developments in party politics at EU level. Contributions may focus on the organization and financing of Europarties and their political foundations, on their goals as policy and office-seeking organizations, on the development the EU 'party system', and overall, on their role within EU politics. Theoretical and empirical investigations, written either as case studies or from comparative perspectives, are equally welcome. Altogether, it is hoped that papers will contribute to set up a new research agenda on EU party politics.

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