The relationships between Europarties and European political groups: changing formal and informal rules and the Spitzenkandidatur

Ahrens, P. and Miller, C. (2023) The relationships between Europarties and European political groups: changing formal and informal rules and the Spitzenkandidatur. Journal of Contemporary European Research, 19(1), pp. 108-128. (doi: 10.30950/jcer.v19i1.1283)

Abstract

The condition of EU democracy is hotly debated and European Parliament’s political groups and Europarties play an important role in continuing power struggles between European Union institutions. To harness the increased power of both the European Parliament and European citizens, the formal and informal relationships between the political groups and Europarties matter, with the Spitzenkandidatur process as a crucial aspect. Using a dataset of 135 semi-structured interviews, this article looks beneath the formal rules that structure European Parliament’s political groups and Europarties. Exploring how MEPs construct these relationships, it discusses leadership, institutionalisation and stances toward European integration as core elements of the relationship between Europarties and political groups in the European Parliament.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by European Research Council (ERC) funding under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program grant number 771676.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Miller, Dr Cherry
• Authors: Ahrens, P., and Miller, C.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences
• Journal Name: Journal of Contemporary European Research
• Publisher: UACES
• ISSN: 1815-347X
• ISSN (Online): 1815-347X
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of Contemporary European Research 19(1):108-128
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license