On the Role of Europarties in the Formation of a Pan-European Political Space

Abstract

The article analyzes the increasing influence of pan-European political parties (Europarties) and their factions in the European Parliament, as well as that of representatives of European civil society, on the formation of the pan-European political space, which is becoming an essential element of the European Union’s future political system. The main approaches to the theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of strengthening the pan-European political space landscape are described. It is shown that recently, the Europarties became the key agents of the Europeanization process, which has a significant impact on the formation of this landscape. The attitude of the EU political elite and representatives of European civil society to this development is considered. It is indicated that a serious impetus to further strengthening of the political space was given by the results of the European Parliament elections in 2019, following which the influence of Eurosceptic parties markedly increased. It is noted that the recently concluded Conference on the Future of Europe has adopted a number of important recommendations in support of reinforcing the “Spitzenkandidaten”-principle and the introduction of transnational lists at the EU elections, which should also strengthen the influence impact of European parties on the pan-European political landscape formation. Positions of the leading Europarties and their parliamentary groups in the EP regarding these proposals and the process of Europeanization in general are presented. It is demonstrated that a number of the European Council members representing liberal parties have explicitly stated the need to reform the EU political system as soon as possible in order to make it more monolithic and aimed at forming Europe as a geopolitical power.