Between Euroscepticism and Europhilia: A comparative analysis of political parties’ narratives of Europe in Poland and Spain

This paper makes a comparative analysis of the ways in which political parties in two countries (Spain and Poland) deploy the narrative of European Union for their strategic purposes. The similarities of a shared experience of transition from non-democratic regimes in the last decades and differences between a long established EU member state and a recently incorporated one, offer an interesting framework for such a comparative approach. The empirical part of the paper is based on the analysis of political narratives contained in parties’ Euromanifestos, with emphasis on the relationship of the parties as individual actors with the European project. Three main dimensions of the EU integration process and of its impact on the member states constitute the axes of our analysis: identity, representation and scope of governance. In the first place, the analysis aims at contributing to the understanding of how the European integration as an independent variable has impacted the party system. Secondly, we aim at exploring the possible adaptations developed by each political party as a response to the new circumstances by changing its positions and policies after obtaining the EU membership, in 1986 and 2004 respectively. The main goal of the research is to demonstrate to which extent the EU is the object of political contestation, how it is strategically used as an element of party competition, and how the historical cleavages of the two party systems affect the party stances on the EU. The similarities and differences between the two national contexts, between Euroscepticism and Europhilia, provide us with rich material which allows us to explore the contemporary narratives concerning the construction of a European identity and the EU as a political project in specific national contexts.