Afke Groen

National political parties are crucial actors in the democratic system of the European Union (EU). They serve as the “vehicles” (Strøm & Müller, 1999, p. 1) between citizens and European policies. In the media, for example, national politicians enjoy higher visibility to voters than actors on the European stage (Boomgaarden et al., 2013). At the same time, the different levels of decision-making in the EU are closely intertwined. The EU is a ‘multi-level political system’ in which political parties have strategic opportunities. Research into the transnational activities of national political parties is therefore of great importance for understanding how democracy in the EU works.

Understanding interactions between political parties across borders is complex. On the one hand, there are benefits to transnational activities. Parties can reach out to parliamentarians from other EU member states to obtain information or attempt to influence the positions of their European political party. On the other hand, there are constraints to transnational activities. Establishing contacts across borders costs time and energy: when do these contacts yield results?

This dissertation explores 1) what drives the transnational activities of national political parties in European affairs and 2) under what conditions national political parties engage in transnational activities in European affairs. In other words, the dissertation views transnational party activities from the perspective of the actors (why do parties do what they do?) and from the system perspective (which factors influence the choices parties make?).

The dissertation focuses on the transnational activities of three German parties on the left of the political spectrum: the social-democratic Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Green Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (the Greens), and the radical-left Die Linke (the Left). The focus is on the national offices and parliamentary groups in the Bundestag (2013-2017). The SPD, the Greens, and the Left are interesting cases for a comparative, qualitative analysis of transnational activities. They are influential within their groups in the European Parliament, have a long tradition of international cooperation within their party families, and are important to their sister parties due to Germany’s position in Europe.

Because transnational activities occur within the context of the topics political parties are working on, the research focuses on two ‘dossiers’. The first dossier is the European Naval Force Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR Med), the controversial military operation against human smugglers in the Mediterranean Sea in which most EU member states participated (2015-2020). The second dossier consists of the campaigns for the 2013 and 2017 Bundestag elections and the 2014 and 2019 European Parliament elections. In addition to various official publications, forty interviews with politicians and staff members form the main source of research data.

Resource Dependence Theory as a theoretical framework for the transnational activities of political parties in the EU

In the process of European integration, many platforms for cooperation between parties and parliaments in the EU have emerged. The most important are the European political parties, political groups in the European Parliament, conferences for inter-parliamentary cooperation, and international cooperation departments of national parties. Parties thus have multiple routes to cooperate in a ‘multi-level playing field’. That playing field is complex: the various platforms are interconnected but have their own rules and dynamics. Therefore, it is important for research to examine the “fusion of various interaction patterns” (Johansson, 2004, p. 18).

Existing research has paid little attention to this fusion. By far the majority of studies describe transnational activities ‘from above’: from the perspective of the individual, formal platforms for cooperation. By choosing a ‘from below’ perspective instead, this dissertation contributes to knowledge about the informal transnational activities of political parties and the strategic and political interests involved in establishing transnational contacts.

To explain transnational party activities, this dissertation presents two overarching arguments based on Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003[1978]). RDT originates from administrative and organizational science. Its premise is that organizations exchange resources with external actors to realize their goals. In doing so, organizations try to maintain as much control as possible over the extent to which they are externally dependent and over the social expectations of external actors. With its emphasis on organizational motives, RDT is better suited as a theoretical framework for transnational party activities than the concepts of Europeanization and transnationalism, on which most existing literature relies.

The first theoretical argument set out in the dissertation concerns the cause of transnational party activities – in line with the first research question. National parties in the EU are dependent on external resources and can seek contact with like-minded parties to manage that dependency. There are three categories of dependence on sister parties at both the national and European levels, namely in relation to resources to attract as many votes as possible (votes), to gain access to influential positions (office), and to realize policy (policy) (Strøm, 1990).

The second argument concerns the extent to which national parties engage in transnational party activities – the second research question of the dissertation. Three categories of system factors are important here, namely 1) the position of a party in the national political system, for example in government or in opposition; 2) the existence of (alternative) routes for access to external resources, such as sister parties in government; and 3) the degree of ideological coherence in the European party family.

The three German parties differ regarding these three system factors. For example, the SPD was part of the governing coalition, while the Left and the Greens were in opposition. And previous research shows that sister parties of the social-democratic SPD are ideologically closer on European integration than sister parties of the Greens and the Left, but not on military intervention – in that area, the social-democratic parties are actually further apart.

Why national parties (do not) engage in transnational activities in European Affairs

The empirical findings regarding the transnational activities of the SPD, the Greens, and the Left in the context of the two ‘dossiers’ – EUNAVFOR Med and election campaigns – are in line with the main theoretical expectations of the dissertation and also lead to several new insights.

Three findings stand out regarding the cause of transnational party activities. First, national parties primarily seek contacts within their party family in the context of their objectives at the national level. In the case of election campaigns, for example, respondents emphasized the importance of transnational activities for sharing expertise on campaign strategies and tools. A significant caveat is that the importance of national objectives is also characteristic of the two dossiers analyzed in the dissertation.

Second, when national parties try to realize collective resources with their European party family – such as joint positions or campaigns – it is usually to respond to social expectations. The SPD, the Greens, and the Left attached more importance to collective resources for election campaigns than for EUNAVFOR Med. The parties found it important to act European in European election campaigns to meet the expectations of German voters and sister parties in the EU. Regarding decision-making on EUNAVFOR Med, the parties attached less normative importance to European action, with the exception of the Left.

Third, parties sometimes deal with conflicting expectations regarding their transnational activities. Some politicians, for example, felt it was important to be present at inter-parliamentary conferences to network and show democratic commitment, but these ‘trips’ were sometimes difficult to combine with priorities in the Bundestag. In the case of European election campaigns, the SPD wanted to maintain the system of a common candidate for German voters, but some sister parties did not want a ‘Spitzenkandidat’ to be appointed.

The position of a party in the national political system is the most important explanatory system factor for the extent to which the party engages in transnational activities. This is consistent with the finding that transnational activities often take place in the context of national objectives. The analysis of EUNAVFOR Med especially illustrates the importance of national politics. The opposition parties, the Left and the Greens, found transnational activities much more important than the SPD. While the Left primarily sought information to question the government on the contents of the operation, the Greens primarily sought expertise on positions to maintain control over decision-making processes.

The comparison of the two dossiers also shows that the factor of ideological coherence within the party family is topic-specific. This is particularly evident in the different practices of the SPD and the Left in the dossiers. On European integration, for instance, there was much division within the radical-left party family, making it difficult for the Left to cooperate multilaterally with sister parties during election campaigns. However, where military intervention was concerned, the party family was more united, allowing the Left to reach common positions.

Regarding routes for access to external resources, the findings are more ambiguous. The three German parties indeed primarily had contact with ‘successful’ sister parties, for example, when searching for expertise for their election campaigns. Politicians and staff from the Greens also noted that transnational activities regarding EUNAVFOR Med were difficult because there are few strong Green parties in the EU. The Left primarily used personal contacts in non-governmental organizations regarding EUNAVFOR Med. Finally, having one’s own resources was sometimes a reason not to cooperate, as in the case of election programs – but not always, as in the case of campaign strategies.

The exploratory nature of this research means that conclusions are cautious. The dissertation therefore also analyzes the findings of several other studies on transnational party activities in light of the resource dependence perspective. Conclusions in some of these studies that differ from the conceptual lens used by the author can be well explained with RDT.

Constraints, possibilities, and risks for transnational party activities in the EU

The findings have several implications for the debate on the democratic legitimacy of the European Union. On the one hand, the dissertation illustrates the limitations of formal platforms for cooperation between parties and parliaments, particularly regarding the inter-parliamentary conference on Common Foreign and Security Policy. This leads to new questions, as there is hope in the literature that inter-parliamentary conferences can strengthen democracy in the EU.

On the other hand, the finding that opposition parties in particular can benefit from transnational party activities supports the more optimistic idea that more debate on European policy is also emerging within national parliaments.

Finally, the research shows that national parties need informal networks for their transnational activities. Through their informal contacts, national parties can increase their capacities, for example, to control the national government in European affairs or to adapt to major changes in the electorate.