Where are they now? New Parties in the European Parliament 1979-2004

In both the academic literature and in the press there seems to be a widespread belief that the European elections are an important stepping-stone for new parties. The argument is that a new party gains attention, legitimacy and/or resources by representation in the European Parliament, and this in turn helps it in subsequent bids for representation in the national parliament. In fact, we do not know very much about the new parties in the European Parliament. Since the latest round of enlargement more than 100 parties are represented in the EP at any given time. This paper presents systematic data on which of these are new, and of what happens to them after their entry into the EP. The paper argues that a descriptive study of this kind is a necessary first step towards a greater understanding of the importance of representation at the European level for new parties. The cases are identified, and their electoral fortunes presented. While such a study is not in itself enough to say that entry into one electoral arena is causally linked to entry into another it is a necessary first step towards further study of new parties in a multilevel context. Finally, some important variations between the new parties in the European Parliament are highlighted and the importance of factors such as resources, the party’s political project and the political opportunity structure for a new parties electoral successes are discussed.