ABSTRACT
In this chapter we analyse how European integration has (or has not) exerted an impact on the internal life and organization of the five main Spanish parties: PSOE, PP, IU, CDC and PNV.2 We examine to what extent these parties have transformed their organizations in order to incorporate the European level into their decision-making structures. Are the party actors most closely involved in European Union (EU)-related affairs or issues gaining power within their parties? To what extent has European integration had a substantial impact on the internal workings of these five parties? Our research is guided by two main hypotheses. The first one proposes that the internal power of party elites will be enhanced by the increased access to resources and information of those who deal more directly with EU politics and the pre-eminence of executives and central governments in EU policy-making. The second hypothesis argues that EU specialists within the parties will also be beneficiaries in the intra-party balance of power, thanks to their policy specialization.3
