ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU), whether or not it has become a politicized and contentious issue in the domestic politics of its member states, is undeniably interwoven in the policy and decision-making processes of domestic governance. Institutional adaptation by national governments to this structural development is an area of scholarly enquiry that is often labelled ‘top-down’ Europeanization (see Chapter 1). Policy adaptation and changes in interest group strategies and organization are further examples of Europeanization. It is therefore reasonable to assume that national political parties may have also exhibited internal organizational change as elements of their domestic environment have altered (Ladrech 2002). Let us remember that national government decision-making is conducted by party-political personnel, and in many cases the same individuals (national government ministers) are participants in the EU inter-institutional decision-making process. The assumption that parties as organizations may also experience some form of organizational modification and/or change in their internal balance of power is entirely appropriate. Furthermore, as Peter Mair has stressed, ‘far too little systematic attention has been paid to analysing the indirect impact of Europeanization on parties and party systems, especially at the domestic level where it is likely to be more important’ (Mair 2006).
