Summitry of European Political Parties at EU Level

Abstract Pre-European Council summits organised by Europarties represent an important but often overlooked arena for political coordination and representation within European Union. These gatherings provide parties with (in)formal opportunities to align positions, discuss policy priorities and negotiate strategies across national governments and European Union institutions. Mainstream parties such as the European People’s Party and the Party of European Socialists have long institutionalised these summits. In contrast, the emergence of newer actors, such as the radical right Patriots for Europe, raises questions about whether they follow similar practices or develop new approaches to coordination and internal alignment. This paper examines three cases of summit organisation, drawing on a combination of a newly compiled summit database, document analysis and interviews. It explores how factors including party size, institutional development, ideological cohesion and strategic positioning influence the organisation and conduct of summits. These gatherings offer a space to manage competing priorities, respond to political pressures and establish shared positions ahead of formal decision-making processes. By analysing summit practices, this paper demonstrates how parties function in an evolving political context and coordinate across multiple levels of governance. It shows how these mechanisms complement formal institutions in shaping decision-making, facilitating strategic alignment and communication within and between parties. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of European party politics by offering insights into the internal organisation, strategies and representation of parties within multi-level political systems. The study also provides a methodological demonstration of how (in)formal political practices can be systematically studied and compared, to capture both variation and underlying dynamics. Overall, the paper offers a detailed account of pre-European Council summitry as a site where parties organise and perform political representation in an evolving European political space. While remaining focused on empirical cases, it provides insights into the broader processes through which political actors coordinate across levels of governance and contribute to the ongoing evolution of party practices and political representation in Europe.