* 1 • Liberalt partisamarbete i Europa ELDR en nytyp av parti? Camilla Sandström Liberalt partisamarbete i Europa ELDR en ny typ av parti? *(V > •—i * v v Akademisk avhandling som med vederbörligt tillstånd av rektorsämbetet vid Umeå universitet för vinnande av filosofie doktorsexamen framlägges till offentlig granskning vid statsvetenskapliga institutionen Hörsal S213H, Samhällsvetarhuset Fredagen den 4 april 2003, kl 13.15 av Camilla Sandström Fakultetsopponent: Professor Lars Svåsand, Universitetet i Bergen Liberal party cooperation in Europe - ELDR a new type of party? (Liberalt partisamarbete i Europa - ELDR en ny typ av parti?) Swedish text with a summary in English, Camilla Sandström, Department of Political Science, Umeå University, S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden. Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to map and assess the organisational and ideological development of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform party, the ELDR. More specifically, it seeks to analyse the degree of integration between the members of the ELDR over time, to identify factors that may or may not generate integration, to relate the development of the ELDR to earlier research about European parties, and finally to contribute to the ongoing debate about whether or not the traditional national party families are about to establish parties at the European level. The thesis is based on the assumption that parties adapt to their environment, in this case, the system of multi-level governance that characterises the European Union. As the European parties are composed of national parties, they are also dependent on the member parties' opportunities and motives for cooperation. If there is integration, we can, however, not only expect the European parties to adapt to their environment. As they become independent actors, they may also influence their environment. In other words, we can anticipate interaction between the European and national levels that leads to mutual adaptation, or Europeanisation. To be able to capture the interaction between the two levels, theories from international relations and comparative politics are combined. Based on interviews, participant observation, documentary research and content analysis of European election manifestos, the analyses shows that the members of the ELDR have over time reached a rather advanced level of integration, both organisationally and ideologically. Although it is possible to identify constraining factors to this development, the ELDR has, at least from what is known from literature, reached about the same level of development as the two other European parties, the Christian democratic EPP and the Social democratic PES. The internal integration of the ELDR is the outcome of a successive transfer of power from the member parties to the ELDR. By now, the ELDR can therefore be defined as a rather independent actor and as a type of party at the European level. This type of party is, however, not comparable to national parties. It is instead adapted to the institutional structure of the European Union, with, at least partly, a different organisation and different functions from those of national parties. Key words: Political parties, European parties, network parties, multi-level governance, European integration, organisational and ideological cohesion, party manifestos, national liberal parties, ELDR. ISBN 91-7305-399-6 ISSN 0349-0831 Research Report 2003:1 Distribution: Department of Political Science, Umeå university, SE 901 87 Umeå, Sweden Liberalt partisamarbete i Europa ELDR en ny typ av parti? Statsvetenskapliga institutionen Umeå universitet Statsvetenskapliga institutionens skriftserie, 2003:1 ISSN 0349-0831 ISBN 91-7305-399-6 © Camilla Sandström Tryck: Print & Media, Umeå universitet, 2003:301051 Liberalt partisamarbete i Europa ELDR en ny typ av parti? Camilla Sandström *5 * t—i ta V O Department of Political Science Umeå university Liberal party cooperation in Europe - ELDR a new type of party? (Liberalt partisamarbete i Europa - ELDR en ny typ av parti?) Swedish text with a summary in English, Camilla Sandström, Department of Political Science, Umeå University, S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden. Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to map and assess the organisational and ideological development of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform party, the ELDR. More specifically, it seeks to analyse the degree of integration between the members of the ELDR over time, to identify factors that may or may not generate integration, to relate the development of the ELDR to earlier research about European parties, and finally to contribute to the ongoing debate about whether or not the traditional national party families are about to establish parties at the European level. The thesis is based on the assumption that parties adapt to their environment, in this case, the system of multi-level governance that characterises the European Union. As the European parties are composed of national parties, they are also dependent on the member parties' opportunities and motives for cooperation. If there is integration, we can, however, not only expect the European parties to adapt to their environment. As they become independent actors, they may also influence their environment. In other words, we can anticipate interaction between the European and national levels that leads to mutual adaptation, or Europeanisation. To be able to capture the interaction between the two levels, theories from international relations and comparative politics are combined. Based on interviews, participant observation, documentary research and content analysis of European election manifestos, the analyses shows that the members of the ELDR have over time reached a rather advanced level of integration, both organisationally and ideologically. Although it is possible to identify constraining factors to this development, the ELDR has, at least from what is known from literature, reached about the same level of development as the two other European parties, the Christian democratic EPP and the Social democratic PES. The internal integration of the ELDR is the outcome of a successive transfer of power from the member parties to the ELDR. By now, the ELDR can therefore be defined as a rather independent actor and as a type of party at the European level. This type of party is, however, not comparable to national parties. It is instead adapted to the institutional structure of the European Union, with, at least partly, a different organisation and different functions from those of national parties. Key words: Political parties, European parties, network parties, multi-level governance, European integration, organisational and ideological cohesion, party manifestos, national liberal parties, ELDR. ISBN 91-7305-399-6 ISSN 0349-0831 Research Report 2003:1 Distribution: Department of Political Science, Umeå university, SE 901 87 Umeå, Sweden Till Anders Innehållsförteckning Förord Figurer och tabeller Förkortningar 1. Europapartierna och den europeiska integrationsprocessen 1 1.1 Inledning 1 1.2 Forskning om Europeiska partier 5 1.3 ELDR - en fallstudie 21 2. Teoretiska och metodologiska utgångspunkter 27 2.1 Vad är ett parti? 27 2.2 Vilken typ av parti? 32 2.3 Partierna och den europeiska integrationsprocessen 39 2.4 Partinätets medlemmar - de nationella partierna 42 2.5 Partinätets organisation 55 2.6 Partinätets funktioner 63 2.7 Metodologiska överväganden - om fallstudie som metod 73 3. ELDR och medlemspartierna 81 3.1 Inledning 81 3.2 Metod och material 82 3.3 ELDR - bakgrund 82 3.4 Ideologi 90 3.5 Fraktionalisering 100 3.6 Motiv för medlemskap 103 3.7 Storlek - stora respektive små partier 111 3.8 Inflytande - regering eller opposition 115 3.9 Opinionen - intern och extern 119 3.10 De vita fläckarna på den liberala kartan 122 3.11 ELDRis medlemspartier - skillnader och likheter 123 4. ELDR - organisatorisk utveckling 127 4.1 Inledning 127 4.2 Metod och material 127 4.3 ELDRis organisatoriska struktur 129 4.4 Individuellt medlemskap 144 4.5 ELDR:s finansiella förutsättningar 149 4.6 ELDR - från samarbete till integration 151 4.7 Länken mellan ELDR och de nationella partierna 154 4.8 Länken mellan ELDR och partigruppen i Europaparlamentet 159 4.9 ELDR:s organisatoriska utveckling 162 5. ELDR - idémässig utveckling 167 5.1 Inledning 167 5.2 Metod och material 168 5.3 Stuttgartdeklarationen - ELDR:s ideologiska bas 178 5.4 Europavalet 1994 181 5.5 Europavalet 1999 196 5.6 Medlemspartiernas positioner i de nationella valen 208 5.7 Partiers positioner längs vänster-högerskalan - en jämfÖrelse 210 5.8 Idédiffusion och partiernas idémässiga utveckling 215 6. ELDR i Europaparlamentet 221 6.1 Inledning 221 6.2 Metod och material 222 6.3 Den liberala gruppens sammansättning över tid 224 6.4 Partigruppen - intern struktur och arbetsmetoder 235 6.5 Intern sammanhållning 247 6.6 Länken till den nationella nivån 263 6.7 Ökad sammanhållning i den liberala gruppen i Europaparlamentet 266 7. ELDR - från samarbete till integration 269 7.1 Inledning 269 7.2 Intern sammanhållning - organisatorisk och idémässig 271 7.3 Länken mellan ELDR och de nationella partierna 279 7.4 Länken mellan ELDR och den liberala gruppen i EP 281 7.5 ELDR - en ny typ av parti? 294 7.6 Framtida forskning om de Europeiska partierna 295 7.7 Slutord 299 Summary 301 Referenser 312 Appendix 333 1 CMP:s kategorier och koder samt beräkningsgrund för partiers socioekonomiska position 2 Kategorier och koder för politik inom EU definierade av Simon Hix 3 Beräkningsgrunder för den ekonomiska och politiska dimensionen Förord I samband med att jag blev antagen till forskarutbildningen fick jag ofta höra att arbetet med en doktorsavhandling präglas av ensamhet. En bild av doktoranden sittande ensam på sin kammare, med böcker som enda sällskap, frammanades möjligen för att jag mentalt skulle vara förberedd på det som väntade. Visst finns det ett mått av ensamhet inbyggt i författandet av en avhandling, forskningsprocessen i sig innefattar dock betydligt fler dimensioner än så. För att en avhandling ska kunna färdigställas, som i det här fallet, krävs framförallt olika former av bistånd och utbyte med såväl kollegor som familj och vänner.