From consensus to competition? Ideological alternatives on the EU dimension

Abstract: According to the literature on European Parliament (EP) elections, parties do not offer real choices to voters on European integration. Indeed, in most European Union (EU) countries, there has been broad consensus about integration between the main parties. Importantly, previous research shows that this elite convergence is not replicated among the voters. Using European Election Study (EES) data from the 1999 and 2004 Euroelections, this article analyses the ideological dispersion of parties on the EU dimension in the EU member states. It examines the development of inter-party competition on the EU dimension between the two elections, and then test the impact of various factors – divided into public opinion, national party system and EU hypotheses – on the breadth of party positions over integration. The strongest link exists between government size and ideological alternatives, with large coalition governments hindering party competition on the EU dimension. However, overall the hypothesized factors explained only a small portion of between-country differences.