Political Parties and European Integration

This book offers a systematic analysis of the role of political parties in the European Union in the process of Community integration. The author looks at the theoretical and empirical dimensions of the transnational structures of the parties and their stake in the institutions of the EU. Examining the manifestos and programmes that the principal political parties of the six most populated states of the EU presented during the campaign for the European parliamentary elections of 2004, he provides an analysis of their political strategies, placing the parties on both the classic left/right axis and that of supranationalism/intergovernmentalism.
The focus is specifically on the statements and policy proposals of the parties on the following issues related to the EU as a political system: the nature of the EU, the reach of its territorial space, the debate about a European citizenry, the various projects for institutional reform of the EU and the principal concrete public policies regarding the three pillars. Based on the methodological perspective of comparative politics, the book addresses in a transversal manner the parties' core programmes and their implications for Europe.

Autorentext

The Author: Cesáreo Rodríguez-Aguilera de Prat is Professor of Political Science at the University of Barcelona. He is a Doctor of Law and has a degree in Contemporary History. His principal research interests are in comparative politics and, more specifically, European comparative politics. Within this field his preferred focus has been political parties. He has published numerous books and articles on these subjects. He has worked as a visiting researcher in research centres and universities in Rome, Turin, Milan, Florence, Paris, Lyon, London, Edinburgh, Brussels and Mannheim.

Inhalt
Contents: National Parties, Eurogroups and Europarties Parties, Community Institutions and Political Processes Eurogroups and Europarties in the European Parliament European Party Strategies and the 2004 Elections Methods of Analysis for Operationalising the Positions of Political Parties The Parties of the EPP/ED The Parties of the PES The Parties of the ALDE The Parties of the EGP The Parties of the EFA/DPPE The Parties of the GUE/NGL The Parties of the ID, UEN and the Non-Inscrits.