Transnational Party Alliances Analysing the Hard-Won Alliance Between Conservatives and Christian Democrats in the European Parliament Johansson, Karl Magnus 1997 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Johansson, K. M. (1997). Transnational Party Alliances: Analysing the Hard-Won Alliance Between Conservatives and Christian Democrats in the European Parliament. Lund University Press. 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LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 TRANSNATIONAL PARTY ALLIANCES 1 2 TRANSNATIONAL PARTY ALLIANCES ANALYSING THE HARD-WON ALLIANCE BETWEEN CONSERVATIVES AND CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT n Karl Magnus Johansson 3 Lund University Press Box 141 SE-221␣ 00 Lund © Karl Magnus Johansson 1997 Art. nr 20470 ISSN 0460-0037 ISBN 91–7966–417–2 Lund University Press ISBN 0–86238–479–6 Chartwell-Bratt Ltd Cover & layout: Mikael Sundström Printed in Sweden Studentlitteratur Lund 1997 4 FOR MY PARENTS 5 6 Contents Preface 9 List of Abbreviations 15 CHAPTER ONE Research in and about Process 19 Research Problems of the Study 19 Research Strategy of the Study 24 Outline of the Study 36 CHAPTER TWO Transnational Party Alliances in Theory 39 Bringing Transnationalism Back in 40 Bringing Neofunctionalism Back in 48 Bringing Domestic Politics Back in 56 Conceptual Framework 63 CHAPTER THREE Building a Transnational Party Alliance 65 Historical and Political Background 65 Formation of the Alliance 77 Evolution of the Alliance 99 CHAPTER FOUR Opportunities for Transnational Party Alliances 107 Internal Catalysts 108 External Catalysts 120 7 CHAPTER FIVE Motives for Transnational Party Alliances 127 Transnational Channels for Access and Influence 128 Maximisation of Parliamentary Influence 141 CHAPTER SIX Constraints on Transnational Party Alliances 155 Ideological Dimensions and the Problem of Congruence 157 Arena Shifts and the Problem of Congruence 187 CHAPTER SEVEN Understanding Transnational Party Alliances 211 Theoretical Implications — Specifying the Process Mechanisms 212 ANNEX ONE Membership of the European People’s Party 223 (as of 1 March 1997) ANNEX TWO Membership of the Group of the European People’s Party 225 (as of 1 March 1997) References 227 8 Preface This study examines processes of transnational alliance-building among Conservative and Christian Democrat parties in the European Union (EU). The route was embarked upon in the summer of 1992 in the con- text of a research trip to Brussels. A colleague of mine, Associate Pro- fessor Magnus Jerneck, and I interviewed several officials and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), most of whom belonged to the Group of the European People’s Party. It was the coming into force of a hard-won alliance between the British and Danish Conservatives and the Christian Democrats in May that year which brought us to Brussels, to investigate the supposedly tortuous negotiations on this alliance, its nature and its future. Having been recruited as a research student and teaching assistant at the Department of Political Science, Lund University, my immediate decision was actually to write a doctoral thesis precisely about trans- national party alliances. The intention was that it would focus upon the Socialist International and its member parties. Curious about the patterns of conflict and co-operation within party families, I was impressed by the long-standing links between Socialist parties. However, learning about the talks between Christian Democrats and Conservatives about a closer partnership, I decided to shift focus to those party families instead. Those talks were held between politicians representing what political scientists traditionally have categorised as two separate familles spirituelles and whose parent parties I knew had a history of conflictual relations. I decided to reconstruct the background to the recent search for a formal alliance. While studying at the London School of Economics and Political Sci- ence (LSE) in early 1992, I read a few articles in the British press about the controversy over the Tory MEPs’ request for allied membership of the EPP Group. The controversy was aroused because of the divisions within the British Conservative Party over Europe and the fact that it was opposed to a federal Europe, something Christian Democrat parties integrated in the transnational party federation of the European People’s Party (EPP) advocated. In the 1989 European elections the EPP mani- festo even called for a United States of Europe. 9 What I was not fully aware of at the time was how strong the opposi- tion to an alliance with Conservatives was in some Christian Democrat quarters. Nor was I conscious of the extent to which the EPP link was entangled with the ideological development of the Tory Party and the factionalism in its domestic internal arena. In February 1994 I spent two weeks in London to meet with high- profile Tories. Gradually understanding the underlying dynamics of the Tories’ EPP link and what was at stake, I was naturally encouraged to continue to trace the processes at work. I was also encouraged by some of those many friendly interviewees who noted the perfect timing of my research and said that I was writing history at a historical moment. The subject had become extremely sensitive in British domestic politics and there was every prospect that it would continue to be. Having been to Brussels in late June 1992 to conduct interviews, I went to Athens in November 1992 to observe the IXth EPP Congress and ask further questions about the alliance. Immediately before the opening of the Congress I attended a meeting of the EPP Political Bu- reau, and later on the press conference held after the summit of the EPP Conference of Party Leaders and Heads of Government. In December 1993 I was also present at the Xth EPP Congress in Brussels. Having been to Strasbourg once before, I went there for the session weeks in June and December 1993. I was also around in Strasbourg’s Palais de l’Europe at the first session week after the June 1994 European elections. In October 1995 I was also pleased to meet again with officials and MEPs of the EPP Group during another visit to Strasbourg. Further interviews were conducted in London, Dublin and Copen- hagen in 1996 and in Brussels in January 1997. Altogether, I have paid visits to party headquarters and offices of party foundations and research institutes in Bonn, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, the Hague, London, Rome and Stockholm. With access to party archives, I have come across invaluable material which complements the interviews. I want to express my gratitude to Dr Thomas Jansen — EPP Secretary- General from 1983 until October 1994 and now at the Forward Studies Unit of the European Commission — for all he has done for me. I am also grateful to Dr Leo Tindemans — a former EPP President and Belgian Prime Minister — who in his capacity as EPP Group Chairman (1992-94) gave me the opportunity to directly observe EPP Group meetings on a number of occasions. 10 I owe all of the interviewees an immeasurable debt of gratitude for sharing their knowledge and inside information with me. Thanks to the interviews it has been possible to gain new insights as well as to cross- check information established elsewhere or available through scholarly work, the media or even hearsay. The following people have been particularly supportive of my research project and I would like to extend a special thanks to them: John Bies- mans, Deputy Secretary-General of the EPP Group and former Deputy Secretary-General of the European Democratic Group (EDG), Jens Karoli, International Secretary and former Secretary-General of the Danish Conservative Party, Harald Rømer, Director-General of the Secretariat-General of the European Parliament (EP) and former Secre- tary-General of the EDG, along with the present EPP Secretary-Gene- ral Klaus Welle and his predecessor Dr Thomas Jansen. All five of them commented on a late manuscript version in part or in its entirety. This brought me to Copenhagen in December 1996 and to Brussels in January 1997. A special thanks also to Janet Berry at the EPP Group secretariat who was extremely helpful in arranging appointments in Brussels and Stras- bourg. Being without a full-time salary most of my years as a research stu- dent all research trips could not have been carried out without the generous funding, hereby acknowledged, provided by the following foundations: Arvid Lindmans Sextioårsfond, Carl Swartz Minnesfond, Crafoordska Stiftelsen, Hierta-Retziusstiftelsen, Jacob Letterstedts Rese- stipendiumfond, Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Kungliga Veten- skapsakademin, Stiftelsen Lars Hiertas Minne, and Stiftelsen Siamon. In this connection I would like to acknowledge the support given by Pro- fessor Lars-Göran Stenelo, Head of the Department of Political Science and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Lund University. I also would like to express my thanks to those scholars with whom I have discussed some of the themes of this study.