“Business as usual”The Treaty of Lisbon and transnational party manifestos

  1. Cristina Ares 1
  2. Andrea Volkens 2
  1. 1 Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
    info

    Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

    Santiago de Compostela, España

    ROR https://ror.org/030eybx10

  2. 2 Social Science Research Center Berlin
    info

    Social Science Research Center Berlin

    Berlín, Alemania

    ROR https://ror.org/03k0z2z93

Revista:
Política y sociedad

ISSN: 1130-8001,  1988-3129

Ano de publicación: 2021

Título do exemplar: Cambio democrático en la Unión Europea durante el primer decenio de vida del Tratado de Lisboa (2009-2019)

Volume: 58

Número: 1

Tipo: Artigo

DOI: 10.5209/POSO.74092 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso aberto editor

Outras publicacións en: Política y sociedad

Resumo

The Treaty of Lisbon was a milestone in the enduring process of empowerment of the European Parliament and its connections to the European Commission. This latest reform of the Treaties, in force since December 2009, placed the only supranational institution whose members are directly elected by all citizens of the EU (since 1979) on an equal footing with the Council as a co-legislator in around thirty additional policy areas. The Treaty of Lisbon also strengthened the European Parliament in terms of the annual and multiannual budgetary decisions, and it granted it the right to elect the President of the European Commission according to the results of the European elections. This article examines various possible effects of this major boost of the European Parliament, along with links to the European Commission in the manifestos issued by five European parties: the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), European Free Alliance (EFA), European Green Party (European Greens or EGP), European People’s Party (EPP), and Party of European Socialists (PES). It studies variations from 2004 onwards in the scope of the programmatic proposals regarding EU domains of power, the footprint in the manifestos of the transnational party organisations themselves, and eventually also of their candidates for the presidency of the European Commission. To do so, the twenty manifestos issued by the abovementioned parties for the 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 European elections were content analysed. The results point to the lasting distance between these transnational parties and the European elections, despite the reinforcement of the role of the European Parliament over time.

Referencias bibliográficas

  • Ares, C. and L. Bouza (2019): “Introducción: crisis, continuidad y cambio en la UE”, in C. Ares and L. Bouza, eds., Política de la UE: crisis y continuidad, Madrid, Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, pp. 7-16.
  • Arregui, J. (2019): “Procedimientos legislativos, policy-making y resultados políticos en la Unión Europea”, in C. Ares and L. Bouza, eds., Política de la UE: crisis y continuidad, Madrid, Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, pp. 41-64.
  • Bardi, L., E. Bressanelli, E. Calossi, W. Gagatek, P. Mair, and E. Pizzimenti (2010): How to create a Transnational Party System, study requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO Committee), available at: https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/15676/EUDOReport2010_02.pdf?sequence=1.
  • Bauer, M. W. and S. Becker (2014): “The Unexpected Winner of the Crisis: The European Commission’s Strengthened Role in Economic Governance”, Journal of European Integration, 36 (3), pp. 213–229, doi: 10.1080/07036337.2014.885750.
  • Belot, C., B. Cautrès and S. Strudel (2012): “Europe as a polarising issue”, Revue française de science politique, 63, pp. 1081-1112, doi: 10.3917/rfsp.636.1081.
  • Bickerton, C. J., D. Hodson and U. Puetter (2015): The New Intergovernmentalism, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
  • Bickerton, C. J. (2018): “Beyond the European void? Reflections on Peter Mair´s legacy”, European Law Journal, pp.1-13, doi: 10.1111/eulj.12287.
  • Borriello, A. and N. Brack (2019): “`I want my sovereignty back!´ A comparative analysis of the populist discourses of Podemos, the 5 Star Movement, the FN and UKIP during the economic and migration crises”, Journal of European Integration, 41 (7), pp. 833-853, doi: 10.1080/07036337.2019.1665658.
  • Chopin, T. (2015): La fracture politique de l´Europe. Crise de légitimité et déficit politique, Windhof, Promoculture – Larcier.
  • Closa, C. (2014): “Los cambios institucionales en la gobernanza macroeconómica y fiscal de la UE: hacia una mutación constitucional europea”, Revista de Estudios Políticos, 165 (July-September), pp. 65-94.
  • Corbett, R., F. Jacobs and D. Neville (2016): The European Parliament, London, John Harper Publishing.
  • Dinan, D. (2016): “Governance and Institutions: A More Political Commission”, Journal of Common Market Studies, 54, pp. 101-116, doi: 10.1111/jcms.12427.
  • Egeberg, M., A. Gornitzka and J. Trondal (2014): “A Not So Technocratic Executive? Everyday Interaction between the European Parliament and the Commission”, West European Politics, 37 (1), pp. 1-18, doi: 10.1080/01402382.2013.832952.
  • Gómez-Reino, M. and I. Llamazares (2013): “The Populist Radical Right and European Integration: A Comparative Analysis of Party-Voter Links”, West European Politics, 36 (4), pp. 789-816, doi: 10.1080/01402382.2013.783354.
  • Grande, E. and S. Hutter (2016): “Introduction: European Integration and the Challenge of Politization”, in S. Hutter, E. Grande and H. Kriesi, eds., Politicizing Europe. Integration and Mass Politics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-31,
  • Hertner, I. (2019): “United in diversity? Europarties and their individual members´ rights”, Journal of European Integration, 41 (4), pp. 487-505.
  • Hix, S. and B. Hoyland (2013): “Empowerment of the European Parliament”, Annual Review of Political Science, 16, pp. 171-189.
  • Mayoral, J. (2011): “Democratic improvements in the European Union under the Lisbon Treaty. Institutional changes regarding democratic government in the EU”, European Union Democracy Observatory (EUDO), Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2149909.
  • Nugent, N. and M. Rhinard (2019): “The `political´ roles of the European Commission”, Journal of European Integration, 41 (2), pp. 203-220, doi: 10.1080/07036337.2019.1572135.
  • Ripoll Servent, A. (2018): The European Parliament, London, Red Globe Press.
  • Schmidt, V. A. (2015): The Eurozone´s Crisis of Democratic Legitimacy: Can the EU Rebuild Public Trust and Support for European Economic Integration, European Economy Discussion Papers, No. 15/September, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission, doi:10.2765/5015 (online).
  • Schmidt, V. A. (2018): “Rethinking EU Governance: From `Old´ to `New´ Approaches to Who Steers Integration”, Journal of Common Market Studies, 56 (7), pp. 1544-1561, doi: 10.1111/jcms.12783.
  • Schmidt, V. A. (2019): “Politicization in the EU: between national politics and the EU political dynamics”, Journal of European Public Policy, 26 (7), pp. 1018-1036, doi: 10.1080/13501763.2019.1619189.
  • Shackleton, M. (2017): “Transforming representative democracy in the EU? The role of the European Parliament”, Journal of European Integration, 39 (2), pp. 191-205, doi: 10.1080/07036337.2016.1277713.
  • Van Hecke, S. (2010): “Do Transnational Party Federations Matter? (...Why Should We Care?)”, Journal of Contemporary European Research, 6 (3), pp. 395-411.
  • Van Middelaar, L. (2018) [2017]: Quandl´Europe improvise. Dix ans de crises politiques, Éditions Gallimard.
  • Wiesner, C. (2018): “The micro-politics of parliamentary powers: European parliament strategies for expanding its influence in the EU institutional system”, Journal of European Integration, 40 (4), pp. 375-391, doi: 10.1080/07036337.2018.1462351.
  • European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR European Liberal Democrats) (2004): ELDR Manifesto 2004 European Parliamentary Elections, Amsterdam, 14 November 2003.
  • European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR European Liberal Democrats) (2009): ELDR Manifesto for the European Elections 2009, Stockholm Congress, 31 October 2008.
  • Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE Party) (2014): A Europe that Works.
  • Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE Party) (2019): Freedom, opportunity, prosperity: the Liberal vision for the future of Europe, Madrid Congress, 2018.
  • European Free Alliance (EFA) (2004): Sovereignty, Social Justice, Subsidiarity, Towards a Europe of diversity, EFA Manifesto for the June 2004 European elections.
  • European Free Alliance (EFA) (2009): Vision for a People’s Europe (not a populist Europe), EFA Manifesto for the June 2009 European elections.
  • European Free Alliance (EFA) (2014): EFA Manifesto, Elections European Parliament, 22-25 May 2014.
  • European Free Alliance (EFA) (2019): Building a Europe of ALL peoples, 2009 Manifesto.
  • European Green Party (European Greens) (2004): Manifesto, European Greens Congress, Rome, 20-22 February 2004.
  • European Green Party (European Greens) (2009): A Green New Deal for Europe, Manifesto for the European election campaign 2009.
  • European Green Party (European Greens) (2014): Change Europe, Vote Green. Green Common Manifesto European Elections 2014.
  • European Green Party (European Greens) (2019): Time to renew the promise of Europe, 2019 Manifesto, European Green Party Council, Berlin, 23-25 November 2018.
  • European People ́s Party (EPP) (2004): The EPP: Your Majority in Europe, EPP Electoral Manifesto, EPP Congress, 4-5 February 2004.
  • European People ́s Party (EPP) (2009): EPP Election Document, EPP Congress, Warsaw, 29-30 April 2009.
  • European People ́s Party (EPP) (2014): EPP Electoral Manifesto, Dublin Congress, 6-7 March 2014.
  • European People ́s Party (EPP) (2019): Let’s open the next chapter for Europe together.
  • Party of European Socialists (PES) (2004): Growing Stronger Together. Five commitments for the next five years, Manifesto of the PES for the June 2004 EP elections, PES Congress, Brussels, 24 April 2004.
  • Party of European Socialists (PES) (2009): People First: A New Direction for Europe, PES manifesto.
  • Party of European Socialists (PES) (2014): Towards a new Europe, PES Manifesto, Election Congress, Rome, 1 March 2014.
  • Party of European Socialists (PES) (2019): A New Social Contract for Europe, PES Manifesto 2019.
Fonte de datos: Dialnet