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This paper outlines and elaborates the role of Europarties – political parties at European level – in the political system of the European Union (EU). It explores the key role and features of these organisations and claims that they are significant actors, particularly through their mobilisation of political parties and leaders. However, the conditions for Europarty influence are demanding. Europarties can be expected to matter when they are in numerical ascendance, relatively cohesive and able to mobilise their networks of political parties and leaders. These leaders remain first and foremost national politicians, responsible to national electorates. Therefore, Europarty influence and relevance overall remain conditioned on the domestic political context of national parties and leaders. Yet, functional pressures for transnational engagement serve to further institutionalise Europarties.

Diese Publikation gibt einen Überblick über die Rolle von politischen Parteien auf europäischer Ebene im politischen System der Europäischen Union (Europarteien). Sie untersucht die Schlüsselrolle und Merkmale dieser Organisationen und stellt die These auf, dass sie vor allem wegen ihrer Mobilisierung von nationalen Parteien und Vorsitzenden signifikante Akteure seien. Die Bedingungen für die Einflussnahme von Europaparteien sind jedoch schwierig. Es kann von Europarteien erwartet werden, dass sie von Bedeutung sind, wenn sie zahlenmäßig überlegen, relativ kohäsiv und außerdem im Stande sind, ihre Netzwerke von politischen Parteien und Spitzenpolitikern zu mobilisieren. Diese Politiker bleiben aber in erster Linie nationale Politiker, verantwortlich gegenüber ihren nationalen Wählerschaften. Daher bleiben der Einfluss und die Bedeutung von Europarteien im Großen und Ganzen abhängig von den innenpolitischen Kontexten nationaler Parteien und deren Anführern. Doch der funktionale Druck sich transnational zu engagieren, dient zur weiteren Institutionalisierung der Europarteien.

At a time when most national parties in Europe are losing members, parties at the European level, or Europarties, have introduced membership for individuals. This article is the first to investigate, compare, and explain the individual membership of Europarties. It focuses on the rights of the individual members to participate in the formulation of policies and the selection of leadership candidates. For this purpose, the article develops an index that charts the participatory rights. In doing so, it highlights a high degree of variation between the Europarties. It argues that these differences can be explained through a combination of four factors: the Europarties' electoral successes; the attitudes of the national member parties towards individual membership; the motivation and activism of the individual members; and Europarty funding rules. The article argues that if Europarties want to be seen as 'real' parties, they should grant their grassroots members real participatory powers.

Bressanelli, Edoardo (2014). Europarties after Enlargement: Organization, Ideology and Competition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 206 pages.

By comparing the importance of representative democracy to the EU as enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty with the political systems in the EU's newest member states, this study explores whether representative democracy can really exist in an enlarged EU and explores the constraints and opportunities for political parties operating the in the EU

"On the one hand, the EU enlargement of 2004/7 brought into the EU 12 new member states ten of which are post-communist countries. On the other, the Lisbon Treaty signed in 2007 states that the 'Union shall be founded on representative democracy' and its political parties contribute 'to express the will of the citizens'. Is representative (party) democracy possible in the enlarged and more diverse Union? What are the constraints and opportunities for its political parties? This study provides a systematic assessment of the impact of enlargement on political parties at the EU level. Theoretically, it builds on the literature on partisan formation and development to frame the consequences of the Union's widening. Empirically, it undertakes an extensive analysis combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies"--

In September 2012, the European Commission called for 'truly transnational European political parties' yet it remains unclear if the Europarties have either the desire or the capacity to achieve such a status. Central to this story are two counter positions -- realist and idealist -- that differ over the extent to which the developmental potential of the Europarties should translate into actual development. The first, which is inclined to highlight their limited potential, places an emphasis on the need to contain developments with occasional minor cosmetic changes. The second continues to look for a more sustained process of party evolution driven by transnational developments that can strengthen their autonomy and 'party-like' qualities. Recognizing the Europarties to be in a 'state of becoming' this article will highlight the way in which these two positions are seeking to steer the ongoing evolution of the Europarties in the wake of the 2004 Party Regulation. Adapted from the source document.

Political parties organized at the European level, Europarties, have become more relevant actors in the European Union. Constitutional and legal rules have recognized their role in the EU political system, they now receive funding from the Union's budget and the strengthening of the European Parliament offers them more opportunities for influencing the EU policy process. Drawing on extensive interview material, we explain why and how Europarties have strengthened their position and show the crucial part played by coalitions of leading personalities of the Europarties. In piecemeal fashion, these coalitions have capitalized on 'incomplete contracts' ever since the opening created by the Party Article in the Maastricht Treaty and have successfully argued for a stronger position for the Europarties. Analysing the regulation, we combine rational choice and historical institutionalism and in the concluding discussion look ahead at the future of Europarties.