Europarties: Continuous Advocacy for Further Integration, Thin Agendas for Constitutional Reform

Abstract

This chapter examines the Europarty manifestos for the 2024 European Parliament elections and asks what these platforms reveal about the EU and about Europarties themselves. The chapter pays particular attention to positions on the institutional development of the Union. The focus is on the three largest Europarties, the European People’s Party, the Party of European Socialists, and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, but the analysis includes the full range of Europarties. A common impression from the manifesto analysis is that policy issues receive much more attention than institutional issues. It also finds that the manifestos of EPP and PES contain few concrete reform proposals about EU governance, which may reflect internal divisions. Among the other Europarties, the European Green Party stands out with its explicitly federalist manifesto. On the whole, the left-leaning Europarties tend to be more in favour of supranational reforms. But, overall, the main Europarties remain committed to the cause of further integration.