CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2009
| Author | Joksic, Mladen |
|---|---|
| Title | Regulating Europarties: One Step Closer to Integration or Two Steps Back? |
| Summary | Despite numerous efforts, the EU has had remarkably little success in developing political parties of its own. For decades, EU parties, known colloquially as ‘Europarties’, have existed in relative obscurity. Long denied even constitutional recognition, Europarties have historically depended on the resources of their respective European Parliament (EP) party groups and constituent national parties. In part as a consequence, Europarties have been dismissed as “nothing more than clearing houses, providing information, campaign materials, and organizing (poorly attended) conferences” (Hix 1995: 535). Not only have they been accused of lacking coherent organisational structures, but it has also been argued that they have failed to offer clear policy directions (Hix 1999). Mindful that the sorry state of Europarties’ development has limited their ability to offer meaningful representative politics, Europarty leaders have taken matters into their own hands, seeking to secure the legal recognition of Europarties and to obtain an EU-based source of financing for their activities. After a decade of such advocacy, the European Council passed ‘Regulation 2004/2003 on governing political parties at the European level and the rules regarding their funding’. The Regulation laid out the necessary criteria for establishing which parties count as ‘political parties at the European level’. More significantly for Europarty leaders, the Regulation also dedicated considerable public funding for Europarties from the EU budget. In the aftermath of the Regulation’s passing, many expected Europarties’ position within the EU political system to strengthen or at the very least, be further defined. It was also hoped that Europarties would gain greater organisational and financial independence from EP party groups and national parties. For the European Peoples’ Party president Wilfried Martens, the Regulation “could prove crucial for the whole way in which we conduct European politics in the future” (in Johansson 2009: 167). Given the high expectations of the Regulation, six years after its adoption several important questions present themselves: What consequences does the newly adopted Regulation have for the organisational development of Europarties? Has public funding of Europarties succeeded in altering the power relations between Europarties, EP party groups, and national parties? Does it ultimately represent one step further in the organisational development of Europarties, making them organisationally more similar to national political parties? These are the questions that this paper aims to answer. It shall be argued that, at least in the short term, the passing in 2003 of Europarty Regulation has failed to live up to it proponents’ expectations. In some respects, it even represents a step back in Europarties’ organisational development, increasing their dependence on both EP party groups and national parties. |
| Supervisor | Sitter, Nick |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2009/joksic_mladen.pdf |
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