Suchergebnisse

The salience assigned to the European Constitution and the positions on it taken by national parties during the 2004 European Parliament elections are the focus of this paper. To explore these issues, we use party manifestos, expert data on party positions, and public opinion survey data from Eurobarometer. Through content analysis of the manifestos we find that the Constitution has been politicised and contested. In countries where the issue has been put in the spotlight by one or more parties, other parties also have had to take a position. The positions parties have taken on the Constitution are related to their overall position on European integration, whether or not they participated in the Constitutional Convention, and their left/right stance.

Via the 29 May 2005 referendum, the French electorate voted against the adoption of a constitution for the European Union (EU) & thereby sent shock waves across Europe. The grassroots rejection of the Constitution can be seen as both a vote against the policies & performance of the right-wing government & president of the day & a mobilization against the latest development in the EU's treaty architecture. As well as being a considerable blow against the prospects of Europe-wide ratification of the Constitutional Treaty, the decisive 55% No vote also has significant implications for domestic party politics -- not least in the context of positioning for the 2007 presidential election. Adapted from the source document.