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Polity‐Building in the Constitutional Convention: Transnational Party Groups in European Union Institutional Reform *
Author(s) -
VAN HECKE STEVEN
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5965.2012.02266.x
Subject(s) - polity , convention , political science , european union , constitution , politics , european integration , law , public administration , political economy , sociology , international trade , economics
The abundant literature on the European Constitution has largely overlooked the role party politics played in the European Convention. This article fills this gap by analyzing transnational party groups: how they were organized and which purposes they served. It shows that they mattered, but in unexpected ways due to the particular set‐up of the Convention. For instance, they helped to bring MEPs and MNPs closer to each other. Overall, the analysis contributes to a better understanding of how parties operate at the transnational level and helps to explain the way in which polity‐building in the European Union's multi‐level system takes place.