DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT C: CITIZENS' RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS How to create a Transnational Party System STUDY Abstract This study has been prepared by the Observatory on Political Parties and Representation (OPPR), part of the European Democracy Observatory (EUDO) at the European University Institute (EUI). It covers four aspects: 1) An analysis of the political doctrine and programme of major political parties in several Member States. 2) An examination of current procedures applied to political parties to choose leaders for European Office. 3) The development of proposals on how to help a European political party system evolve from national structures strongly influenced by historical traditions and cultural factors. 4) Suggestions regarding the extent to which the European electoral system and different systems of party financing would have to be revised in order to facilitate the above objectives. PE 425.623 EN This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs. AUTHORS Luciano Bardi Edoardo Bressanelli Enrico Calossi Wojciech Gagatek Peter Mair Eugenio Pizzimenti RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR Mr Wilhelm Lehmann Policy Department C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN Translation of executive summary in: DE/FR/IT ABOUT THE EDITOR To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its newsletter please write to: [email protected] Manuscript completed in July 2010. Brussels, © European Parliament, 2010. This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. This report has been prepared by the Observatory on Political Parties and Representation (OPPR), part of the wider European Democracy Observatory (EUDO) which is based at the European University Institute’s Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies in Florence, Italy. EUDO’s main goal is to produce a permanent and periodic assessment of democratic practices within the EU and to translate scientific and academic research on key issues in European democracy into policy‐relevant and publicly‐understandable outputs. EUDO develops practical suggestions for improving democratic performance in the EU and offers expertise, information, and policy reports to relevant EU institutions and other actors. The OPPR Observatory, in particular, is devoted to the study of European parties and representative channels, agenda setters and gatekeepers on the possible road towards a full‐fledged and effective Euro‐party system. The OPPR Observatory is co‐directed by Prof. Luciano Bardi and Prof. Peter Mair. 1 This study is the response to a tender contract awarded in November 2009 by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament (contract n°IP/C/AFCO/IC/2009‐62), for the provision of a study on “How to Create a Trans‐National Party System?”. The study covers the four aspects indicated in the tender application guidelines: 1) An analysis of the political doctrine and programme of major political parties in as many Member States as feasible. 2) An examination of current procedures applied to political parties to choose leaders for European Office. 3) The development of proposals on how to help a European political party system evolve from national structures strongly influenced by historical traditions and cultural factors. 4) The development of suggestions regarding the extent to which the European electoral system and different systems of party financing would have to be revised in order to facilitate the above. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction................................................................................................................... 4 1. The Political Groups in the European Parliament: Policy Positions and Ideological Coherence...............................................................................................10 1.1 THE POLICY COHESION OF THE POLITICAL GROUPS............................................... 11 1.1.1 The formation of the political Groups and their ‘political affinities’ ..................11 1.1.2 Party families in a changing context..............................................................................13 1.2 PRESENTATION OF THE DATA .................................................................................. 15 1.2.1 Euromanifesto Project .......................................................................................................16 1.2.2 EU Profiler..............................................................................................................................17 1.3 EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS............................................................................................... 17 CONCLUDING REMARKS ............................................................................................... 29 2. Candidate Selection and Trans­nationalisation ..........................................40 2.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 40 2.2 TWO DIMENSIONS OF ANALYSING THE CANDIDATE SELECTION PROCEDURE ....... 41 2.2 WHO DECIDESD IN NATIONAL PARTIES?................................................................. 42 2.2.1 Differentiation by country ................................................................................................44 2.2.2 Differentiation by political affiliation............................................................................45 2.3 IS EUROPEAN INFLUENCE IMPORTANT?................................................................. 48 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................. 50 3. The Role of National Traditions........................................................................53 3.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 53 3.2 THE NUMBER OF PARTIES AT NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LEVEL........................... 54 3.3 LEGAL STATUS OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES.............................................................. 58 3.4 INTERNAL ORGANISATION ...................................................................................... 60 3.5 CAMPAIGN PRACTICES............................................................................................ 62 4. The Harmonisation of European Electoral Law and the Financing of PPELs .............................................................................................................................66 4.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 67 4.2 THE HARMONISATION OF EUROPEAN ELECTORAL LAW......................................... 68 4.3 THE FINANCING OF PPELs....................................................................................... 74 4.3.1 Public financing and organisational change: quid prius? .......................................75 4.3.2 Party financing schemes in Europe: a synthetic overview.....................................78 4.3.3 Public funding in the Old Europe ...................................................................................79 4.3.3 Public funding in the New Europe .................................................................................82 4.3.4 The funding to parties at European level ....................................................................84 4.3.5 Organisation of Political Parties at European Level..................................................88 4.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE “EUROPARTY STATUTE” ...................................................... 92 Conclusion: Transnational Parties and a Transnational Party System ...97 Report’s Summary.................................................................................................. 103 REFERENCES............................................................................................................. 106 TRANSLATIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................... 114 ANSÄTZE ZUR SCHAFFUNG EINES TRANSNATIONALEN SYSTEMS POLITISCHER PARTEIEN..................................................................................................................... 115 CRÉER UN SYSTÈME DE PARTIS TRANSNATIONAL....................................................... 124 COME CREARE UN SISTEMA PARTITICO TRANSNAZIONALE ....................................... 133 3 Introduction Parties are multi‐faceted actors, whose organisation, strategy and style of competition are primarily embedded in, and defined by, national political settings. They originate and develop either from the organised expression of societal interests (extra‐parliamentary origin) or from the organisational and political needs of elected officials (parliamentary origin). In both cases, and even when the two sets of factors play a role, the central organisation of the party is a product and not a cause of these processes. Transnational parties at European level can, therefore, be expected to