ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the European structures and major issues – the skeleton of the campaign. The Confederation office, quite a distance from the European Center, has the ambiance of crowded and cheerful confusion one associates with a temporary campaign headquarters. The official members of the Confederation at the time of the 1979 campaign were the national socialist and social democratic parties from the Nine, as well as the socialist parties of Spain and Portugal. One must pause and ask whether a national party – particularly a European socialist party – would enter an important election campaign allowing each local party grouping to write its own election manifesto. In a political situation in which the will of the majority prevails, a party platform or election manifesto is a good indication of where the majority of party activists stand on a host of issues.
