Pan-European Parties – Who Are They, What Do They Want and Can They Win Elections?

Pan-European Parties – Who Are They, What Do They Want and Can They Win Elections? Policy Paper Caspar Kolster and Henrik von Homeyer The German Marshall Fund of the United States About the Authors Caspar Kolster is a program coordinator of the Mercator European Dialogue at the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Caspar holds a double master’s degree in European government from Pompeu Fabra University, Spain, and the Univer- sity of Constance in Germany. Henrik von Homeyer is a program assistant of the Europe Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Henrik received his bachelor’s degree in European studies from Maastricht Univer- sity and his master’s degree in Eastern European studies from the University College London. His research interests include the Ger- man and European politics, as well as foreign and security policy. May 2019 Copyright German Marshall Fund of the United States Voßstraße 20, 10117 Berlin | www.gmfus.org Editors: Chiara Rosselli | GMF Pan-European Parties – Who Are They, What Do They Want and Can They Win Elections? In the past, European Parliament elections failed demos at a time when parties proposing the exact to mobilize a large part of the electorate and were opposite – a return to national sovereignty – are often regarded as second-tier national elections. riding a wave of success. This year things might be different, however. Across Europe the political center is disintegrating and the There have been pan-European parties before but European project itself is being put in question. they had no electoral success. Today, however, The battle lines have shifted from the debt crisis there are several competitors that might shake and eurozone governance to a more profound up the European Parliament elections. The challenge to current party systems, political leftist DiEM25/European Spring, led by Yannis discourse, and the functioning of democracies. Varoufakis, the former finance minister of Greece, Previously fringe anti-establishment parties now strives for fundamental democratic reform of the hold power at the national level in several EU EU; VOLT has managed to mobilize particularly member states. They have had arguably impact in younger activists across the continent with a areas such as migration, refugees and asylum, civic simple, pro-European and “post-ideological” freedom, justice, and foreign policy. Meanwhile, message; and the shaky alliance between French the informal “grand coalition” between the center- President Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche and the right European People’s Party (EPP) and the centrist-liberal Alliance of Liberals and Democrats center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) party for Europe (ALDE) campaigns on a progressive, groups is widely expected to lose its majority in the pro-Europe platform. These new pan-European European Parliament for the first time since 1979. parties distinguish themselves from the traditional For most of the existence of the parliament, the Europarties such as the EPP or S&D when it comes EPP and S&D decided on all legislative initiatives to their discourse and agenda setting, and to their and on the top jobs in Brussels. party incentives and structures. At the same time, Europe is witnessing a The new pan-European parties can raise the transnationalization of the parliamentary visibility of the European Parliament elections, elections. They will be dominated by the first for which voter turnout five years ago was 42 truly pan-European issue in migration, which has percent with a record low of 13 percent in Slovakia remained at the top of the list of citizens’ concerns in 2014.2 They have been hailed as a key step in for the EU the across all member states since giving political representation to a truly European the last contest.1 For the first time, Europeans electorate.3 While their electoral chances are slim, will also have a chance to vote for very different except for the En Marche/ALDE alliance the key visions for the EU championed by veritable question is whether they can still perform well pan-European parties. Across Europe, established enough to shape the future of European politics. parties are proposing moderate reform of the EU or emphasizing the benefits of the status This paper looks at the cases of DiEM25/European quo. By contrast, the anti-establishment, mostly Spring, VOLT, and En Marche/ALDE. In particular, right-wing, parties that could gain up to one third partly based on interviews with members of of the seats seek to take power away from the pan-European parties and movements, it considers EU institutions and hand it back to the national the seeming paradox of their emergence at the capitals. At the same time there is an entirely same time as there is a nationalist trend in Europe new type of parties that consider themselves and investigates what impact they could have on “pan-European” or “transnational” and want to Europe’s ailing democracy. The paper looks at fundamentally reform the EU and democratize its why they are relevant, how are they organized, decision-making powers. Their emergence stands what political agenda are they pursuing, and for something remarkable: the fact that European what electoral strategy could see them win seats politics is beginning to address a European 2 European Parliament, “Results of the European elections 2014”. 1 Kantar Public Brussels, “Standard Eurobarometer 90”, Autumn 3 Alberto Alemanno, “Time for Europe to embrace democracy”, 2018, p.12. Politico, April 7, 2018. 2 this year and in future elections despite their not truly pan-European in their set-up either. This obvious disadvantages vis-à-vis their established has been reflected in previous election campaigns competitors. with Europarties rarely competing or interacting with each other directly. Rather, the constitutent national parties do so.8 As a study commissioned Europarties and Pan-European by the EU concluded, there is no “transnational or European party system in the electoral arena” and Parties only a very limited European party system in the “legislative arena.”9 There are fundamental differences between Europarties and pan-European parties or What Are Pan-European Parties? traditional national parties. Europarties have three layers: national constituent member parties, a There have been several attempts to establish transnational party organization, and a political truly pan-European parties or movements before. group within the European Parliament. The Dutch For example, Europe-Democracy-Esperanto has political scientist Gerrit Voermann describes them been running in all European Parliament elections as “not a homogenous organization, but a reticular since 2004. Several were established for the 2009 conglomerate of [these] three structures.”4 elections, including the Newropeans, who ran in the Netherlands, Germany, and France, or Libertas, a There are currently 10 registered Europarties transnational party that formed around a rejection (See Table 1).5 In the European Parliament they of the Lisbon Treaty and won one seat in France’s organize themselves in “political groups” based parliament. The best-known pan-European party on ideological affiliations. In only two cases, project is the European Federalist Party (EFP), those of the EPP and the S&D, political groups which resulted from the unification of the Federalist correspond exactly with the actual Europarties. Party of France and the Europe United Movement The other political groups consist of coalitions in 2011. It participated in the 2014 elections and is of Europarties, national parties, and individual doing so again this year, competing in six member members of the European Parliament. Political states as well as in national and regional elections. groups are the central organizing vehicle in the parliament. They elect their own chairs, receive EU These attempts to form pan-European parties did funding for administrative and staff costs, and their not succeed. They did not gain seats in the European members can be elected as committee chairs. Parliament nor became a significant force in any member state. The reasons are twofold: interest In early 2018, there were attempts to make in European Parliament elections haven been the European Parliament and the Europarties relatively low in the past, and the European project more transnational by introducing transnational has never been as contested previously as it is candidate lists and a single European constituency right now. Yet, with the growing contestation of the that those elected from lists would represent. elections and the transnationalization of European There was a legislative proposal to replace after politics and crises, the latest attempts to establish Brexit the 73 U.K. seats in the European Parliament such parties look more promising. with transnational seats. Thus, all European voters would have had the opportunity to vote directly for The new pan-European parties have a centralized a member from their electoral district as well as leadership at the European level and coordinate for a transnational party list. European legislators all their political work Europe-wide rather than rejected this proposal, however.6 The EPP voted nationally or through a coalition of parties that against having a transnational list, arguing that seek to run on one pan-European platform. In this represented “a centralist and elitist artificial this strict sense, the En Marche/ALDE alliance construct.”7 does not qualify as pan-European party at this moment. Yet, President Macron’s ambition was Overall, Europarties are thus fundamentally different at the outset. His initial plan was to different from their national counterparts and are build a pan-European version of his En Marche movement-party, but he eventually decided 4 Gerrit Voerman, “The formation of political parties in the Europe- an Union”, Montesquieu Institute, March 2009, pp. 1-2. against this for strategic and legal obstacles to 5 Authority for European Political Parties and European Political establish parties in every single member state.

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