Europe in Campaign (Spain Election 2011) · main Spanish parties [Partido Popular (PP) and Partido...

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Paper prepared for the 7th ECPR General Conference, Bordeaux, 4-7 September 2013

“Europe” in Campaign (Spanish General Election 2011)

Cristina Ares Castro-Conde ([email protected])

Santiago de Compostela University, Spain

Abstract

The 2011 Spanish elections were held in the context of the Euro crisis and following two

changes of government in the Eurozone, i.e. Greece and Italy, without popular voting.

This paper links the debate on the democratic deficit of the EU with the Europeanization or

adjustment to "Europe" of party politics in member states. The argument is as follows: in

spite of the notable democratization of supranational institutions throughout the European

integration process, the legitimacy of the EU continues to be weak, among other factors,

because of the way in which national parties have adjusted to "Europe".

This research has two fundamental aims. The first is to analyze the introduction of

European issues in the 2011 Spanish election campaign. The second is to draw up a

classification system of the political proposals concerning EU affairs for obtaining

comparable information about the Europeanization of electoral competition.

The following material was used: a) data from the Manifesto Project for this election; b) the

programs of the parties that obtained representation in the Congreso de los Diputados on

20-N; and c) political information (positioning, proposals, messages) published by the two

main Spanish parties [Partido Popular (PP) and Partido Socialista (PSOE)] through the

following communication channels: the Política Exterior magazine, the El País newspaper,

the accounts in twitter of their candidates for the Presidency of the Government (M. Rajoy

and A. P. Rubalcaba respectively), and the only televised debate.

The methodology used is content analysis. Proposals are coded by means of “quasi-

sentences” on the European integration process, the political system and the public policies

of the EU contained in the election programs of 12 parties, plus other political texts from

the PP and PSOE election campaigns.

Empirical evidence shows how the parties assessed the introduction of European issues

into the electoral competition, undermining citizens of the possibility of structuring their

vote in a relevant manner in order to influence and control decisions adopted at

supranational level.

mailto:[email protected]

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The classification scheme of the proposals related to EU affairs consists of 29 categories

structured in 3 areas (European integration process, institutions and actors, and EU public

policies); and it allows analyzing the proposals of the political parties on these matters

from a comparative viewpoint, using quantitative and qualitative techniques.

Key words: Europeanization, Spanish general election 2011, EU democratic deficit,

political parties

SUMMARY

1. Introduction

2. The Europeanization of party politics

3. The argument

4. Results

5. Discussion

6. Conclusions

7. Bibliography

1. INTRODUCTION

This paper has two fundamental aims. The first is to analyze the introduction of

European affairs into the 2011 Spanish election campaign. The second is to draw up a

coding system of the programmatic proposals of the parties on the European integration

process, the political system and EU public policies.

This new classification scheme is complementary to the Manifesto Research

Group/Comparative Manifestos Project/Manifesto Research on Political Representation

(hereinafter referred to as the Manifesto Project) one.

Its value resides in that it offers a wider range of categories concerning the EU for

systematizing specific information about these affairs at an intermediate level of

abstraction, which can be used in research designs from a comparative viewpoint and

analyzed through both quantitative and qualitative techniques.

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The materials used in the research are: a) data for this election from the Manifesto

Project1; b) election programs of the parties obtaining representation at the Congreso de los

Diputados on 20-N (with the exception of Amaiur, whose program, according to the

Manifesto data, contained no reference to the UE "issue"); c) articles about European policy

published by the candidates of the PP (Mariano Rajoy) and of the PSOE (Alfredo P.

Rubalcaba) in the Política Exterior magazine, interviews given by both these leaders to the

El Pais newspaper published a few days before election day, their accounts in the twitter

social network, and the transcription of the only face-to-face televised debate.

The following table shows all the parties that obtained representation in Congress in

the 2011 elections, with the voting percentage and number of seats obtained.

TABLE 1.1: PARTIES REPRESENTED IN THE CONGRESO DE LOS DIPUTADOS

Party Voting percentage Number of seats

Partido Popular (PP) 45.24 186

Partido Socialista Obrero Español

(PSOE)

29.13 110

Convergéncia i Unió (CiU) 4.24 16

Izquierda Unida (IU) 7.02 11

Amaiur 1.39 7

Partido Nacionalista Vasco/Eusko

Alderdi Jeltzalea (PNV/EAJ)

1.35 5

Unión Progreso y Democracia

(UPyD)

4.76 5

Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya

(ERC)

1.07 3

Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG) 0.77 2

Coalición Canaria (CC) 0.6 2

Compromís-Q 0.52 1

Foro Asturias (FAC) 0.41 1

Geroa Bai 0.18 1

Total 100 350

Source: prepared by the author from the results of the elections held on 20 November 2011.

1 Accessible from: https://manifestoproject.wzb.eu/elections/206 [Budge et al. (2001), Klingemann et al.

(2006) and Volkens et al. (2012)].

https://manifestoproject.wzb.eu/elections/206

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The technique used is that of content analysis, defined by Krippendorff as “[A]

research technique for formulating valid and reproducible inferences2 from certain texts (or

other significant material) in the contexts of their use” (2004:18; op. cit. Alonso et al.,

2012b: 14), and that differs from the interpretation of texts in everyday life due to its

reliability and validity (Alonso et al., 2012b: 14).

The structure of the text is as follows: the second part briefly locates this research in

the literature on Europeanization of the parties and the electoral competition; the argument

that relates this subject to the EU democratic deficit is developed in section three; the next

part is dedicated to presenting the results; the discussion occupies section five; part six

gives the conclusions; and the paper closes with the bibliography.

2. THE EUROPEANIZATION OF PARTY POLITICS

Since the 90s, Europeanization is one of the main research agendas of the

subdiscipline of European Studies. Its aim consists of analyzing both direct and indirect

changes in the European governance caused by adjustment to the European integration

process.

The notion of Europeanization is somewhat complex. In the first place, because

accommodation of belonging to the EU has a clear vertical dimension, but also the second

horizontal dimension is less evident.3 Furthermore, “nothing is necessarily top-down in the

domestic adjustment to regional European integration” (Graziano and Vink, 2007:8).

When only bearing in mind the vertical dimension of the concept of

Europeanization, two different approaches can be used: a) the top-down approach that

follows the sequence: 1. "Pressure" from "Europe" on the member states – 2. Variable

interveners – 3. Reactions and changes at domestic level; and b) the bottom-up approach,

that considers Europeanization as the dependent variable and places “actors, problems,

resources, style and speeches at domestic level” at the beginning of the causal chain

(Radaelli, 2006: 60).4

2 Added emphasis.

3 In reference, Radaelli, one of the authors who has contributed most to consolidating this agenda, points out

that: "The European Union can provide the context, the cognitive and normative ‘framework’, the terms of

reference, or the opportunities for the socialization of domestic actors, that then produce `exchanges´ of ideas,

power, policies, etc.” (Radaelli, 2006: 62). 4 Please note that not even the top-down approach to Europeanization uses this as a synonym of convergence

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In short, Europeanization “only involves the inclusion of the internal policy in our

comprehension of European integration” (Radaelli, 2006:58).

The adjustment to "Europe" of the parties and the party politics was late in joining

the Europeanization research agenda (Carter et al., 2007; Ladrech, 2002; Mair, 2007).

Ladrech (2002) put forward five areas of research for adapting national parties to

the EU: 1) organizational change (including not only formal reforms but also informal

adjustments in the practices and power relations inside the parties), 2) program and policy

content, 3) patterns of party competition, 4) party/government relations and 5) relations

beyond the national party system.

In general, the first papers on this subject concentrated on the vertical and ascending

dimension (bottom-up) of the adjustment on "Europe", and on only direct changes. Later

on, direct effects began to be analyzed in the descending direction (top-down).

Seminal studies of the effect of belonging to the EU in the parties and national party

systems concluded that this was limited (Aylott et al., 2007; Ladrech, 2002 and 2007;

Ramiro and Morales, 2007; Raunio, 2007); and basically analysed: 1) specialists presence

and influence on European affairs in party organizations, and 2) the format and mechanisms

of party systems (Mair, 2000: 36).

It is obvious that the trend was to centralize party organizations since the sixties of

the last century (Katz and Mair, 1995; Kirchheimer, 1996; Raunio, 2002; Farrell and Webb,

2000) and, in general, to presidentialize politics, favoured by the increasing role that the

mass media play in the political scenario. This was reinforced because of the European

integration process (Aylott et al., 2007; Ladrech, 2007; Raunio, 2002).

As the majority of the large European parties are, from an organizational point of

view, cartel-type parties and develop their functions in a context in which relations with the

mass media are perceived as crucial in order to win and preserve power, leaders’ autonomy

is very extensive, and allows them to control not only their party organizations but also the

adjustment to "Europe" of party politics.

or harmonization. In fact, the empirical evidence often corroborates the "differential" impact of the European

integration on member states (Héritier et al., 2001; Graziano and Vink, 2007; Radaelli, 2006); the proximity

or compatibility between the institutional configuration of the EU and those of different countries (this is

what Hix and Goetz call closeness of fit) tends to be one of the most significant factors when explaining the

differences in the accommodation processes to "Europe", or “ patterns of Europeanization” (Hix and Goetz,

2000: 19).

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Raunio's article in 2002 especially presents one of the first attempts of examining

the effects of the EU in decision-making within national parties. This author upholds that

the institutional configuration of the Union exogenously reinforces the concentration of

power in the centre of the party organizations, which, as just stated, is an underlying trend.

Raunio realizes how the impact of the EU on national party organizations has been

formally limited. “The parties have established EU commissions and named European

secretaries; nominated candidates in European elections and appointed delegates in

executive organs of the Euro parties. However, these changes are quite modest in their

extent and do not alter the basic structure of party organization” (Raunio, 2002: 406).

Although, informally, the adjustment of party organizations to "Europe" could be far more

significant (Raunio, 2002: 414).

In general, the first papers on the adjustment to "Europe" of party organizations

demonstrate that experts in European affairs do not gain centrality, but the power

concentration process in the party elite is accelerated, at least in the case of government

parties (Aylott et al., 2007: 208).

Mair (2000, 2007) identified two significant indirect effects of the EU on national

parties. Firstly, as a result of the delegation of competences in Union institutions, the

reduction of the range of political instruments, the political argument and political space,

that is to say, the area of competition between political forces with aspirations of

government in national party systems. Secondly, in the area of the EU, the increase of

“immateriality of conventional policy”. This second indirect effect, the depoliticising in the

space of the Union, was confirmed by Ladrech (2007).

Without a doubt the European integration process reduces the number of issues

decided domestically, and necessarily with it the matters upon which national parties

contrast their proposals and the alternatives offered to voters in internal competition.5

This papers tries to provide a small contribution to the studies on the

Europeanization of parties and party politics of member states, continuing with the

examination of the indirect effects; but inverting the causal relation. If Mair (2000 and

2007) considered the increase of the European integration process was the independent

5 On the effect of monetary integration in Europe in the electoral competition Menéndez (2012) and Urquizu

(2012) need to be consulted.

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variable and the reduction of the area of party competition domestically or the

depoliticising in the EU in general, the dependent variables, for us, political national

parties are placed at the beginning of the causal chain.

We analyze in particular the introduction of European issues by political parties in

the 2011 Spanish election campaign as a determining factor of the democratic legitimacy

of the EU. The expected relation is direct.

3. THE ARGUMENT

During most of the European integration process, the good results of EU policies

were sufficient to legitimise public decisions adopted at supra-state level.6 However, the

Euro crisis has put the fragility of the sources of legitimacy of origin (identity and

democracy) of the EU on the table, and initiated the debate on its democratic deficit in the

political agenda of some member states.

Historically, the democratic deficit of the EU had an institutional dimension and

another sociological one. The first was related to a form of investiture and the lack of

accountability of the European Commission, the opaqueness of the meetings of the Council

of Ministers, the weakness of the European Parliament and also of the Political Parties at

European Level and the hollowing out of responsibilities of State Parliaments (central and

regional ones of member states decentralized politically or with regions with legislative

competence). The second dimension was related to the absence of a European demos (a

political community at European level with collective identity), and also of a common

public sphere.

However, delving deeper into the integration from Maastricht to the coming into

force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009 and later developments have very

significantly improved the democratic credentials of the EU. The European Parliament is

today an undoubtedly strong institution: under the ordinary legislative procedure, which

6 The legitimacy of the EU, as that of any other political democratic system, rests on three pillars: the results

when satisfying the needs and values of citizens (efficiency); public control from a position of political

equality (democracy); and a certain feeling of belonging to the political community (identity) (Lord and

Beetham, 2001: 444). Legitimacy, according to the efficiency in answering social demands is known as

“legitimacy of result”, and the axiological requirements and democratic procedures together with the

identification of the political community are considered to be sources of “legitimacy of origin” (Scharpf,

1999).

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apply to most matters, it co-legislates on an equal footing with the Council of Ministers; it

has also gained power as a budgetary authority (shared equally with the Council); the

appointment of the Commission President is determined by the result of elections to the

European Parliament. Likewise, transparency of the meetings of the Council of Ministers

has been guaranteed when acting as a legislative chamber. The European citizen’s initiative

has also been constitutionalized and developed legislatively. The Lisbon Treaty has in

addition given power to the National Parliaments, fundamentally through the new early

warning system for controlling the principle of subsidiarity. Even from the sociological

point of view, the actual Euro crisis has caused the appearance of a public European

embryonic sphere.

However, if we consult Eurobarometer results, we can see how citizens from many

member states (to different degrees and sometimes due to different reasons) support the

project of European construction with less intensity.7

In order to try to explain this paradox, we relate to the democratic legitimacy of the

EU (effect) to the Europeanization of party politics (cause).

If we understand democracy as political equality and civil capacity to influence and

control public decisions, it is true that even today the EU, in spite of introducing

institutional improvements and the emergence of a public space at European level, has a

problem of democratic legitimacy. We mainly blame the persistence of this situation on the

deficient treatment of European affairs by national parties; specifically, the shortage of

political information (positioning, proposals, messages) on European integration,

institutions and actors, and the public policies of the EU, which reduce citizens’ aptitude to

influence supranational decisions, among others, through voting at national elections.

4. RESULTS

The order of appearance of the research results is as follows: 1) presentation of the

new classification scheme for party proposals in the European integration process, the

7 The difference, in November 2012, between the respondents who say they are rather in favour and who

declare to be quite in opposition to the Union (in order of decreasing size of the changing trend from May

2007 to November 2012): 52 percentage points in Spain in November 2012 (as opposed to 42 in May 2007), -

22 in Italy (as opposed to 30), -29 in Germany (as opposed to 20), 6 in Poland (as opposed to 50), -49 in the

United Kingdom (as opposed to-13) or -22 in France (as opposed to 10). [Information published in issue

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political system and the public policies of the EU; 2) enlightenment of the evolution of the

positions of Spanish parties regarding European issues using data from the Manifesto

Project; 3) coding of proposals on EU affairs contained in the programs of the political

party that obtained representation in the Spanish Parliament on 20-N; 4) coding of the

proposals on these matters that were introduced in the election campaign by the Partido

Popular (PP) and the Partido Socialista (PSOE) through the following communication

channels: the Política Exterior magazine, the only televised debate between their

candidates for the Presidency of the Government (M. Rajoy and Alfredo P. Rubalcaba), the

accounts in twitter of both leaders and the El País newspaper.

4.1 The new classification scheme of party proposals on the European integration process,

the political system and public policies of the EU

We put forward a classification system for party proposals on EU affairs, which is

complementary to the classification scheme of the Manifesto Project.

The Manifesto Project scheme was created at the beginning of the decade of the

eighties in the 20th

century to code the political preferences of parties through the analysis

of content of their election programs at state level. It has been widely used for classifying

units of analysis of heterogeneous political texts, including speeches or governmental

statements dating back from the Second World War.8

The method used for the Manifesto Project is not discussed. Undoubtedly, it “has

been, and continues to be, a success story” (Alonso et al., 2012b: 8). Although, this paper

does not exclusively examine the election programs but also other 20-N political texts, it

even shares the theoretical assumption of the Manifesto Project in that the program is the

only representative document of the position of a party in specific elections. If we study

other texts, it is because not only are we interested in the positioning but also in the

political messages and especially in the content of the proposals.

We recognize the colossal contribution to the social sciences of the only database

that allows rigorously comparing the ideological positions and political party preferences as

number 4 (“Shock of democracies”) of the Europa booklet, edited in conjunction with the main newspaper

headers of the six largest countries of the EU. This was published in the El País newspaper on 25 April 2013]. 8 Regarding the Manifesto Project method, besides the compulsory consultation of Budge et al. (2001),

Klingemann et al. (2006) and Volkens et al. (2012), are indispensable: Alonso et al. (2012a and 2012b).

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well as the electoral competition, including confronting countries of different world

regions. In addition, the versatility of this information is valued very positively, which can

be used to address complex research questions. In fact, we used data from the Manifesto

Project in this piece of research.

However, for the purpose of our study, i.e. the EU, the standard scheme of the

Manifesto Project only provides measures of party positioning in favour and against; but no

substantial data on the measures they put forward.

Specifically, the Manifesto Project scheme for systematizing programmatic

preferences concerning the political system, policy and politics highlight 56 categories,

which classify governmental performance under 7 areas, i.e.: "External Relations”,

“Freedom and Democracy”, “Political System”, "Economy", “Welfare and Quality of

Life”, “Fabric of Society”, and “Social Groups”. Two of the 56 categories, classified under

area 1 “External Relations”, are linked with the EU; there are called: "European

Community/European Union: positive” and "European Community/European Union:

negative”.9

It is possible to calculate, when using both categories together, not only the combined

with salience position as the pure position with regard to the EU expressed in the

programs.10

The combined with salience position is calculated by reducing the percentage

of category 110 to the percentage of category 108. The pure position is achieved by

dividing the result of the above subtraction from the sum of the percentages of categories

108 and 110.

The new classification scheme for coding party proposals concerning the EU that we

create increases the number of categories for the systematical collection of data about these

affairs at an intermediate level of abstraction. The data generated by using this tool serves

9 These categories are defined in the following way. Category 108, “EC/EU: positive”: "references favourable

towards the European Union/Community in general”. This can include: convenience of the adhesion of the

country of the election program (or permanency as a member); convenience of an extension of the European

Community/European Union; convenience of an increase in the competence of the Union and of the European

Community; convenience of an extension of the competence of the European Parliament. Category 110:

"EC/EU: negative”: "negative references towards the European Community/European Union”. This can

include: opposition to certain European policies preferred by European authorities; opposition to the net

contribution of the country of the election program to the EU budget. 10

The combined with salience position theoretically moves between the values of -100 [when the reference/s

opposing a matter (in our case, the EU) occupy the whole program being examined] and +100 (when the

reference/s in their favour complete the program). Meanwhile, the scale of pure position ranges, also

hypothetically, between the values of -1 y +1.

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for the comparative research of electoral competition in the EU, not only at supranational

but also at national level; and can be analyzed using both quantitative (raising the level of

abstraction) and qualitative research techniques, depending on the research questions that

are considered to be relevant for formulating every piece of research.

Elaborating the new classification process was especially inductive, the fruit of the

exercise of coding party proposals for the 2011 Spanish elections, initiated with a

preliminary deductive classification scheme, which sustained notable variations in view of

the data contained in the 12 programs we examined.

Three dimensions of the concept “European Union” are distinguished, which are:

European integration process, political system and public policies of the EU. Consequently,

the classification scheme is structured upon three areas.

29 categories are differentiated as indicated in the following table.

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TABLE 4.1: CLASSIFICATION OF PARTY PROPOSALS ON EU AFFAIRS

Areas Categories

Area 1:

INTEGRATION

PROCESS

101 Widening

102 Deepening

103 Democratization

Area 2:

INSTITUTIONS

AND ACTORS

201 Multilevel Government

202 EU Institutions and Organs

203 Political Parties at European Level

204 Groups of Interest

205 Legitimacy

Area 4:

PUBLIC

POLICIES

301 Financial Programming and Budget

302 Internal Market and Competition

303 Trade

304 Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro

305 Tax System

306 Social Affairs and Inclusion

307 Agriculture and Rural Development

308 Maritime Affairs and Fishing

309 Environment

310 Regional Policy

311 Space of Freedom, Security and Justice

312 Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy

313 Security and Defence Policy

314 International Cooperation, Humanitarian

Aid and Response to Crises

315 Education and Youth

316 Research and Innovation

317 Digital Agenda

318 Energy

319 Transport

320 Industry

321 Other Policies or Cross-Cutting Issues of

Public Policies

Source: prepared by the author.

As in the Manifesto Project, the “quasi-sentence” (that is to say, a series of words

that contain a sole argument) is the unit of analysis that is coded11

; and not only in the

11

A “quasi-sentence” is a phrase or part of a phrase (quasi-phrase) that expresses a sole general argument. It

has to be used as a unit of code to the detriment of the isolated word (or symbol) when the research is not only

interested in the frequency of appearance of certain terms in the texts, but especially in the positions

maintained by an agent with regard to a matter and its justification.

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decomposition procedure of the texts in quasi-phrases but also in the coding, the Manifesto

Project rules are respected. These can be consulted at: http://manifestoproject.wzb.eu.12

Therefore, in order to assign the proposals to one or other of the 29 categories of the

new classification, the rules of the Volkens coding manual (2002) apply, of which we

emphasize the two following ones due to the particular usefulness shown in coding the

programmatic proposals of 20-N: 1) categories of the area entitled “Public policies”

(objectives) have preference over the categories of “Institutions and actors” (means); 2) the

most specific categories have priority over the most general ones (for example, in

“Integration process”, category 103 "Democratization" has preference over category 102

"Deepening").

4.2 Evolution of the position of Spanish parties on European affairs

We give below a series of graphs showing the evolution of the position of Spanish

parties concerning the EU from the adhesion of this country to the then European

Community, in 1986.

Data from the Manifesto Project has been used, specifically, the combined with

salience position ("position", and not “pure position”) stated in the programs of the parties

that obtained parliamentary representation in at least two of the eight general elections held

since then: in 1986, 1989, 1993, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2011.

In order to draw up the first graph, we calculated the average "position" (combined

with salience position) in the EU of the parties that obtained representation at each election.

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The criteria for dividing the text into units of analysis is as follows: if there is a complete argument in a

phrase, it is not divided; otherwise, it is divided into several quasi-phrases (every quasi-phrase must contain a

complete argument).

http://manifestoproject.wzb.eu/

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GRAPH 4.1: EVOLUTION OF THE AGGREGATE POSITION ON THE EU OF

SPANISH PARTIES

1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008 2011

Aggregate position 3.6 5.2 3.7 2.9 1.95 1 1.4 0.9

3.6

5.2

3.7

2.9

1.95

11.4

0.9

Source: prepared by the author, using data from the Manifesto Project, accessible from:

https://manifestoproject.wzb.eu/elections/206 [Budge et al. (2001), Klingemann et al. (2006) and Volkens et

al. (2012)].

This graph shows a clearly descending trend in the salience that Spanish political

parties give to the EU as well as in their positioning in favour, which contrast with the

deepening of the European integration process over these years.

The second graph, however, illustrates the evolution of the "position" on European

affairs of each party but examined individually.

There is evidently a normal descending pattern; the position of the Spanish parties

on the EU reaches its maximum in the 1989 elections for PSOE, IU, PNV and ERC, in

those of 1996 for PP and CiU and in 2000 for CC. Only one party, the BNG, behaves

differently: 1) it is the only one with a negative positioning in all the elections we studied;

2) their position improves on these matter in the 2004 and 2008 elections, but its

positioning on the EU worsens again in the 2011 elections.


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GRAPH 4.2: EVOLUTION OF THE POSITION ON THE EU OF SPANISH PARTIES



al. (2012)].

Finally, we provide a graph for each party with expectations for leading the

Government of Spain, PP and PSOE, in which, besides the combined with salience

position, the percentages of references that are favourable and unfavourable of the

European integration are given separately.

In both cases, we can see how there is no increase in references unfavourable

towards the EU, but only a loss of relevance of European affairs in the electoral

competition, as opposed to the increasing number of public decisions that they adopt,

together with their European counterparts, the Prime Minister who will be chosen indirectly

from the results of these elections, as well as other members of his team.


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GRAPH 4.3: EVOLUTION OF THE POSITION ON THE EU OF THE PP

1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008 2011

Unfavourable references 0 0 0.3 0 0 0 0 0

Favourable references 2.7 2.9 3.7 7 2.9 2.1 1.8 2.5

Position PP 2.7 2.9 3.4 7 2.9 2.1 1.8 2.5

2.7 2.9 3.4

7

2.9 2.1 1.8 2.5

2.7 2.93.7

7

2.92.1 1.8

2.5

0 0

0.3

0

0

00

0



al. (2012)].

GRAPH 4.4: EVOLUTION OF THE POSITION ON THE EU OF THE PSOE

1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008 2011

Unfavourable references 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0

Favourable references 5.1 4.9 3.5 4.2 2.5 2.5 2.8 2

Position PSOE 5.1 4.9 3.4 4.2 2.5 2.5 2.8 2

5.1 4.93.4 4.2

2.5 2.5 2.8 2

5.1 4.9

3.5

4.2

2.5 2.52.8

2

0 0

0.1

0

0 00

0



al. (2012)].



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4.3 Programmatic proposals concerning the EU of the parties obtaining representation on

20-N

In this section, we provide, coded by means of “quasi-sentences”, the programmatic

proposals related to matters decided at EU supranational level of those parties that obtained

representation in Congress in the 2011 general elections.

Coding the “programmatic proposals related to matters decided at EU supranational

level” means that those measures which concern adjusting political systems, politics and

public policies to "Europe" at domestic level (in other words, the proposals concerning the

"vertical" and top-down dimension of the Europeanization of the member states, in this

case, Spain) are excluded 13

; not analyzed in this section either are “quasi-sentences” that

do not content a proposal, although they express a party position on a European issue14

.

A criterion of ordination of the parties is the voting percentage (in descending order)

and that of the proposals, the order of appearance of them in the programs and this is shown

in following table.

13

Examples of paragraphs that contain electoral commitments that are not coded because they do not

constitute “programmatical proposals related to matters decided at EU supranational level”, notwithstanding,

although they are related to the EU, they refer to decisions that are adopted at state level (that is to say, they

are adjustments that would be addressed using an approach of vertical and in a descending direction

Europeanization: EU or supranational decisions would act as independent variables and the dependent

variables would be the changes in the political system, the politics or national policies), in this case, of Spain:

"We will boost measures that allow us to comply with the commitment, as stipulated in the European Union,

of 20-20-20 in 2020” (PP Program: page 13); or “We will promote the increase of state support to student

mobility programs, very specially the Erasmus program, in order to cover displacement and subsistence

expenses of students at destination universities, in a dignified manner” or “To guarantee Catalonia with their

own electoral circumscription at the European Parliament elections” (CiU Program); or “We demand a

temporary development (of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Corridors) adjusted to the European forecasts and

requirements” (PNV Program: page 21); or “To reinforce the unity of Spanish action in Europe, reforming the

Joint Congress-Senate Commission for the EU” (UPyD Program: page 45). 14

Examples of “quasi-sentences” that contain a positioning on a European matter, but not a proposal, and they

are therefore not coded: "The redefinition of agricultural and fishing policies in the European Union provide

us with a magnificent opportunity, more equitable socially speaking, because they are small agricultural

developments, many of them in Natura Network areas, which benefit from a greener CAP, which recognizes

the benefits that its preservation and custody contribute to the community” (PSOE Program: page 30); or “In

the last few years, there are several different symptoms of collapse of the model, in the middle of an economic

and political crisis that strikes the working class and implies a hollowing out of representative democracy by

evidencing that key decisions are adopted by large fortunes, capable of destroying or refloating a currency,

and European and world organisms that do not respond to any democratic legitimisation” (IU Program: page

25); or “European identity and governance do not oppose the Basque identity and governance. Quite the

contrary” (PNV Program: page 31).

18

TABLE 4.2: CODED PROGRAMMATIC PROPOSALS ON EU AFFAIRS (GENERAL

ELECTION 2011)

Agent Category Proposal/s

PP Digital Agenda - Boost full development (page 52)

PP Education and Youth - Backing the mobility of students, teachers and

educators in the European Higher

Education Area (EHEA) (page 90)

- Promoting a map of EHEA ratings providing

transparency on acquired knowledge and employment

(page 93)

PP Regional Policy - Advancement of insularity and outermost regions (page

159)

PP Space of Freedom,

Security and Justice

- Enhancement of the safety space (page 182)

- Strengthening European instruments for police and

legal cooperation (page 187)

- Construction of a common immigration policy and

signing of agreements with third countries (page 198)

- Consolidation of the Space of Freedom, Security and

Justice, paying special attention to the fight against

terrorism and organized crime (page 198)

PP International

Cooperation,

Humanitarian Aid

and Response to

Crises

- Improvement of European consensus on development

(page 208)

PP Security and Defence

Policy

- Boost the policy (pages 211-2) of the European defence

agency (page 211) and for cooperation between the EU

and NATO (page 212)

PP Economic and

Monetary Affairs and

Euro

- Greater economic coordination (page 198)

- Improvement of governance criteria in the Eurozone

(page 198)

- Greater economic integration (page 198)

- We will increase the general level of transparency

(page 198)

- Creation of an effective capacity for supervising and

the common guarantee of deposits (page 198)/Advances

towards authentic integrated supervision (page 199)

- Strict observance of the stability and growth agreement

(page 199)

- Rescuing European banks (page 199)

- We will regulate by-products and short-term sales

(page 199)

- Transparency in the relations between financial

institutions and their clients (page 199)

- Establishment of funds guaranteeing deposit at

19

European level (page 199)

- Creation of a specific instrument to finance SMEs in

the EU (page 199)

PP Financial

Programming and

Budget

- Sufficiency of Union resources (page 198)

- Transitory period for regions that are beyond the

convergence objective (page 198)

- Sufficient assignment in R+D+I, education and

infrastructure (page 198)

- Balanced distribution of burdens bearing in mind

relative wealth (page 199)

PP Trade - Signing commercial and partner agreements with the

Latin-American area of nations, as well as with allied

countries (page 198)

PP Foreign Policy and

Neighbourhood

Policy

- Boost Foreign Policy (pages 198-9) and the European

External Action Service (page 198)

- Attention to Mediterranean and Latin-American

regions (page 199)

PP Widening - We will support the integration of Croatia, the

negotiations underway with Iceland and Turkey and, in

time, with other countries recognized as candidates (page

198)

PP Internal Market and

Competition

- Culmination of domestic market financial services

(page 99)

PP Energy - We will boost trans-European networks to guarantee

energy sufficiency (page 199)

PP Transport - We will boost trans-European networks to guarantee

free movement of goods (page 199)

PP Agriculture and

Rural Development

- We will defend a strong Common Agricultural Policy

(CAP), enjoying sufficient means for our agricultural

and cattle sector (page 199)

- Guarantee food safety of Europe (page 199)

PSOE Agriculture and

Rural Development

- We will defend a strong, simpler CAP, with sufficient

financial assignation and set upon three basic

instruments: revenue support, management of markets

and rural development (page 32)

PSOE Maritime Affairs and

Fishing

- The Common Fishing Policy reform must be carried

out based on the same principles as the CAP, taking into

consideration the importance of supporting a strategic

sector for food supply and the creation of wealth in

coastal areas (page 33)

PSOE Foreign Policy and

Neighbourhood

Policy

- Foment Neighbourhood and Great Neighbourhood

Policies in the frame of concerted action in Africa

between the Governments of Spain and the Canary

Islands, fomenting cooperation plans (page 48)

- Unified presence of the EU in the most relevant

international organizations (page 134)

20

- Greater responsibility, visibility and political dimension

of the President of the European Council and the High

Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and

Security Policy (page 134)

- Advances in the deployment and training of the

European External Action Service (EEAS) (page 135)

- Rigorous application by the EEAS of EU Human

Rights Directives (page 141)

- We will defend a thorough change in the

Neighbourhood Policy for the Mediterranean, so that

democracy and human rights take precedence over

security efficiently (page 141)

PSOE Space of Freedom,


- Guarantee the free movement within the European area

(page 109)

- We will promote Schengen commitments for common

foreign frontier control (page 109)

PSOE Economic and


Euro

- Reinforce the institutions of economic government

(page 133)

- Better coordination of economic policies (page 133)

- Construction of an authentic economic union (page

133)

- Flexibilization of the European Stability Mechanism

(ESM); so that, besides structuring aid to countries

undergoing financial difficulties, it funds investment and

stimulus plans, to provide a solution not only for the debt

problem, but also for the lack of economic growth

required to create employment (page 134)

- European Credit Rating Agency, which independently

assesses the true state of the finances of member states

(page 134)

- Improvement in regulating private risk evaluation

agencies, to increase European competition in this sector

(page 134)

- Extend the competence of the European Parliament in

economic and financial sectors, with which we can gain

efficiency, speed and margin of manoeuvre, besides

democratic legitimacy (page 134)

PSOE Tax System - Greater fiscal integration (page 133)

- Own European Tax System drawn up with progressive

criteria (page 133)

- Tax on financial transactions, for the purpose of

reducing speculation (page 133)

- An imposition harmonized on CO2 emissions, assisting

the transition to a Europe without any CO2 (page 133)

- Establishment of a European Exchequer, a Finance

Ministry whose duties include taking charge of

21

administering the funds obtained from European taxes

and issuing European national debt (page 133)

- Emission of Eurobonds. By doing so, the EU would

obtain at least three objectives: reduce speculation in

financial markets, obtain more funding and reduce the

price of financing the EU (page 133)

- Fiscal harmonisation. The EU needs greater capacity to

avoid competition in fiscal affairs (page 134)

PSOE Deepening - A true social Europe whose standards have the same

force as those in a single market, through boosting a

European Social Agreement and the safeguard of a

sustainable welfare state (page 133)

PSOE Financial

Programming and

Budget

-We will not accept a budget reduction but we will

defend extending it (page 133)

- Reform the current direction of the EU budget so it

addresses to a greater extent the fulfilment of the

objectives marked by the strategy 2020 (page 133)

- Place active policies for creating employment and

training at the centre of the next financial perspectives

(page 133)

- Part of the funds collected from the proposed tax on

financial transactions will be used to cooperate with the

development and battle against climatic change (page

133)

PSOE EU Institutions and

Organs

- More active role of the European Central Bank. It

should enjoy new responsibilities and act in a decisive

manner to favour EU growth and fight against

unemployment. Extend its mandate (pages 133-4)

- More active role of the European Investment Bank

(page 133)

PSOE Democratization - Adopting more democratic and transparent mechanisms

for electing authorities at the head of European

institutions, especially, the President of the Commission

and the President of the European Council. Regarding

the President of the European Council, we propose it

should be the European Parliament that gives final

approval for the candidate put forward by member states

(page 134)

PSOE Political Parties at

European Level

- We will take and active part, together with the forces of

the European Socialist Party, in electing and presenting

to European citizens, a male or female common

candidate to the President of the European Commission,

in the frame of the next European Parliament elections

(page 134)

PSOE Widening - Commitment for the adhesion of Turkey, which should

take place as soon as possible (page 135)

22

PSOE Security and Defence

Policy

- To consolidate this, advancing towards a Europe of

Defence, in coordination with NATO, integrating new

strategic challenges for peace and security policies,

including those associated with the environment and

climatic change (page 144)

CiU Tax System - European fiscal harmonization to consolidate the

Eurozone (page 19)

CiU Economic and


Euro

- Economic harmonization to consolidate the Eurozone,

eliminating currently sustained imbalances (page 19)

- Startup of the Eurobonds, which, together with fiscal

consolidation, will help us to come out of the crisis (page

19)

- Commitment with the Euro and financial stability of

the Monetary Union (page 19)

- Speed in covering regulation and supervision lagoons

of financial markets (page 19)

CiU Agriculture and

Rural Development

- The 2014-2020 CAP will be as suitable as possible for

the production characteristics of the Catalan agricultural

and rural means giving content in the regulatory frame to

the singularities of Mediterranean reality (page 29)

- Regionalization of the CAP, so that regions have the

capacity to make decisions in some aspects and increase

management autonomy so they can adapt certain

decisions to regional productive systems and enjoy more

agile management (page 30)

- Territorialize European aid and subsidies, transferring

final endowments immediately to the Autonomous

Communities (page 30)

CiU Social Affairs and

Inclusion

- Maintenance of the level of the European food aid

program for the most disadvantaged (page 76)

CiU Environment - Increase the objective to reduce greenhouse effect gas

emissions for member states, putting them at 30%

instead of the initially foreseen 20% (page 89)

CiU Research and

Innovation

- Distribution of European funds for Research and

Innovation depending on the quality of the projects and

the research capacity of the research systems and not

following population criteria or those contrary to

scientific interest (page 97)

CiU Legitimacy - While taking advantage of reviewing the Treaties and

Regulation of linguistic uses due to the integration of

Croatia, we will boost incorporating Catalan as an

official EU language (page 118)

CiU Multilevel

Government

- Catalonia’s own voice in the EU (page 118)

- Direct participation of Catalonia in EU institutions,

especially in affairs that hold exclusive competence

(page 118)

23

- We will contribute towards analyzing legislative

proposals of the Commission, not only for controlling

the principle of subsidiarity but also in order to improve

the quality of EU legislation and its application (page

118)

- We will foment interinstitutional and

interparliamentary relations concerning the control of the

principle of subsidiarity (page 118)

CiU Foreign policy and

Neighbourhood

policy

- The Mediterranean has to continue being one of its

fundamental axes (page 119)

- We will fight to create a Common Foreign Policy (page

119)

- The EU will speak with a single voice at the United

Nations (page 120)

CiU International

Cooperation,

Humanitarian Aid

and Response to

Crises

- We will increase international peace missions with the

participation of the EU (page 120)

- We will advance in the European Consensus of

Humanitarian Aid: we will improve access to

humanitarian aid for the victims of armed conflicts and

natural disasters. We will work to comply with the right

to food and to pass a new human rights plan (page 120)

CiU Security and Defence

Policy

- We will continue to extend and reinforce the European

Defence Agency (page 122)

IU Tax System - Intervene in processing the future Directive on the

Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) to advance its entry

into force on 1 January 2013 and so that the minimum

tax rate is 0.1% for buying or selling bonds and shares

and 0.05% for by-products, and include operations with

currencies in the FTT (page 10)

- Raise before European institutions changing Article 56

of the Treaty of Functioning to establish it as an

exception at the start of free movement of capital,

movements carried out between member states and the

territories qualified as tax heavens (page 12)

- Put forward that European institutions should lead

negotiations with the different international

Organizations of a political or financial nature to control

and identify the true titleholders of these capital

movements (page 12)

- Eliminate the EUR 500 bank note (page 13)

- Invoices paid in full or in part in cash or bearer

documents over EUR 1,000 cannot be used as deductible

expenses (page 13)

IU Economic and


Euro

- Complete change of the Euro Pact (page 17)

- As a temporary measure, we will support proposals to

increase the term for reducing the deficit to 3 % in 2016

24

(page 17)

IU Agriculture and

Rural Development

- New CAP capable of defending family agriculture,

protecting the environment and curbing control of the

agro-food chain by big companies (pages 31 and 68)

- Take advantage of the CAP reform to reorientate the

agricultural-farming model and that agricultural and food

policies are established in the frame of food sovereignty

(page 31)

- The CAP must include instruments regulating the

market that put an end to food speculation and the

volatility of prices, and the abuse of power by the agro

industry and great distribution (page 68)

- Rejection of Agreements with Morocco and Mercosur

(page 69)

- Rejection for cutting the CAP back by 15% for 2014-

2020 (page 69)

- Correction for cutting direct aid of the first pillar of the

CAP (page 69)

IU Education and Youth - Creation of European networks and centre of

excellence (page 44)

- Improvement of the European dimension of permanent

learning with recognition of ratings and aptitudes (page

44)

- Creation of European degrees, certificates and

diplomas (page 44)

- Establishment of minimum quality standards in

education and training (page 44)

IU Other Policies or

Cross-Cutting Issues

of Public Policies

- Application of the principle of precaution in assessing

all European programs, and especially those of

Biotechnology, Environment and Energy (page 44)

IU Space of Freedom,


- Address immigration as a structural fact that transforms

and enriches the host society, which involves the

required development of a series of policies orientated

towards active citizenship based on the principles of

universality of human rights and interculturality (page

63)

IU Digital Agenda - Total opposition against attempts for boosting closed

software patents favouring the maintenance of

monopolies and preventing sharing the benefits of

research

IU Foreign policy and

Neighbourhood

policy

- Substantially changing the current EU Foreign Policy

and Neighbourhood Policy, which should be based on

peace, disarmament, cooperation and international

democratic relations (page 82)

IU Deepening - Reinforce united European response in social, syndical

and political affairs allowing us to enter into a new

25

European constitutional process for building a social

Europe with rights and not a Europe at the service of

markets (page 82)

PNV Multilevel

Government

- Direct participation of autonomous communities in EU

decision-making (page 10)

PNV Agriculture and

Rural Development

- The CAP reform is a threat for our producers. We will

continue working to obtain the best conditions for the

agricultural, farming and associated transformation

sectors (page 15)

PNV Maritime Affairs and

Fishing

- The future European regulation for sustainable fishing

is a threat. We will continue working to obtain the best

conditions for the sector (page 15)

PNV Education and Youth - Quotas for young people to take part in the most

relevant research and technological innovation projects

financed by the EU (page 17)

PNV Economic and


Euro

- Greater supervision of financial institutions by the

European Central Bank and the Commission (page 23)

- Creation of a Ministry of Economy at European level,

with the resources and suitable instruments of economic

policy, that manages resources from the European

Financial Stability Facility (page 30)

- Resources must be sufficient to guarantee paying the

debt of those countries requiring aid (page 30)

- Creation of Eurobonds with a European debt rating to

finance the deficit of various countries, reducing the cost

of indebtedness of the countries that pay an enormous

differential in relation to the German debt (page 30)

- The European Central Bank must provide financial

institutions with the liquidity they need so they can grant

loans to families and companies (page 30)

PNV Energy - Form an energy mix that is less dependent upon the

exterior (page 27)

- Common European energy market

PNV Tax System - European tax on financial transactions, whenever first

and foremost, this involves movements of capital of a

speculative nature and its cost is not transferred to the

basic daily operations of citizenship and small

enterprises (page 25)

PNV Deepening - Extension of the concept of European governance to

other basic policies for our development, such as the

foreign, energy and social policies (page 31)

PNV Foreign policy and

Neighbourhood

policy

- Strengthen the foreign policy and the European

diplomatic service (page 31)

PNV International

Cooperation,

- Give this priority (page 31)

26

Humanitarian Aid

and Response to

Crises

UPyD Economic and


Euro

- Promote the improvement of the framework of

regulation and supervision of the European financial

system (page 12)

UPyD Tax System - Common European fiscal policy that complements the

single currency (pages 14 and 45)

- Creation of a EU Exchequer capable of intervening

efficiently in the monetary policy and in funding crises

(page 45)

UPyD Agriculture and

Rural Development

- CAP reform that defends agriculture according to a

series of criteria concerning direct payments, such as: the

possibility of linking them to the number of workers per

farm and not per hectare (re-defining the concept of the

“active farmer”), a compulsory ecological component, a

minimum for small farmers, etc. (page 20)

- CAP market measures will reinforce the position of the

farmer in the food chain, through a series of dispositions

such as: a European standard that controls the power of

large distributors, the promotion of self-management

organizations in small and medium developments,

concretion of the notion of “food stock” to guarantee

food safety, price trigger most related to real markets,

etc. (page 20)

- Support and reinforcement of rural areas through: aid

measures for young farmers, ease for the exchange of

good practices, the development of an efficient and

competitive agricultural sector that contributes to

sustainable development; etc. (pages 20 and 21)

UPyD Education and Youth - Boosting the European dimension of education which

is closely connected to training in values, attitudes and

competence associated with European citizenship (page

21)

UPyD Space of Freedom,


- Put in place a united European legal system for

immigration. Meanwhile, synchronize different national

legislations, assuring cooperation between member states

(page 29)

- Transfer the management of citizenship and

immigration policies to the EU through a European

Immigration Service implementing policies for

integration and common visas (page 29)

- Improve the battle against illegal immigration mafias,

reinforcement of cooperation between European

institutions dedicated to fighting against organized

crime, such as EUROPOL or INTERPOL, reducing the

27

lack of coordination between member states (page 29)

- Common migratory policy, re-establishing the

regulation of the Schengen area, cancelling the

exceptions of some member states, and with a European

Card for the rights of community immigrants (page 45)

- More equitable distribution between member states of

immigration control costs at the entrance doors to the EU

(page 45)

- Network of reception centres for irregular immigrants

in all European regions (page 45)

- Increase of EU treaties with third countries regarding

immigration, contemplating aspects including the

regulation of migratory flows (page 45)

- A “Green Card” system that allows citizens from third

countries to hold a joint EU residence and employment

permit (page 46).

UPyD Democratization - Reinforcement of the European Parliament, with the

election and control of the President of the European

Council (page 45)

- Greater means for the European Judiciary to favour

their independence (page 45)

- Open lists for electing Members of the European

Parliament (page 45)

UPyD Research and

Innovation

- The European R+D+I policy will gradually substitute

national programs of member states (page 45)

UPyD Foreign policy and

Neighbourhood

policy

- Common foreign policy, unifying the representation of

EU countries at international organisms; a single

international communicator (page 45)

UPyD Security and Defence

Policy

- Establishment of a binding agreement for all EU

members to reciprocally defend their foreign borders and

their territorial integrity (page 46)

UPyD Widening - Establishment of the obligation of all EU members to

protect and respect their interior borders and the

territorial integrity of member states, including the

recognition of not altering borders in secession or

unilateral independence processes (page 46)

- Immediate EU expulsion of any territory that

segregates or freely becomes unilaterally independent

from any member state (page 46)

ERC Widening - Defence and application of the secession rights of states

in the frame of European federalism. Catalonia will be a

new EU member state (page 5 and others)

ERC Economic and


Euro

- Influence the monetary policy applied by the European

Central Bank (page 17)

ERC Other Policies or - Active participation in defining the strategies and

28


of Public Policies

tourist policies by the European Commission, so that the

Lisbon Treaty recognizes tourism for the first time as a

European policy (page 26)

ERC Legitimacy - Recognition of Catalan as an official EU language

(pages 153 and 174) and the incorporation of Occitan as

a working language (page 174)

ERC Foreign policy and

Neighbourhood

policy

- Barcelona, the capital of the euro-Mediterranean policy

(page 169)

- We will help to advance the Neighbourhood Policy in

the Mediterranean basin (page 169)

ERC Multilevel

Government

- The Delegation of the Government of the Generalitat

will assume a determinant role in defence and promotion

of the interests and aspirations of Catalonia before

European institutions (page 169)

ERC Deepening - A federal Europe, especially in the areas of the Tax

System, foreign and defence policies (page 172)

ERC International

Cooperation,

Humanitarian Aid

and Response to

Crises

- As a EU member state, Catalonia will be involved and

contribute experience in peace missions and boost the

pacific resolution of conflicts, promoting democracy, the

defence of human rights and equality (page 172)

ERC Agriculture and

Rural Development

- Catalonia will be represented in the EU with the right

to speak in debate and to vote for Agriculture (page 177)

BNG Economic and


Euro

- Links of the monetary policy to democratic institutions,

addressing the conversion of the current status of

independence of the ECB (page 8)

- The priority objective of the monetary policy will be

the economic stability and creation of employment (page

8)

- Cancellation of the Stability Pact, giving way to the

application of other governing criteria concerning the

economic policy based on supporting productive

investment through economic promotion of strategic

sectors, peoples’ right to production, the guarantee of

social policies, as well as the promotion of economic,

social and territorial redistribution (page 8)

- Strict supervision of entities and agencies in the

financial sector (page 8)

- Emission of Eurobonds, with direct support from the

ECB to the funding needs of the States, without

involving any additional transfers of sovereignty or

competence to community institutions (page 8)

BNG Internal Market and

Competition

- Derogation of community standards and directives that

gave way to the economic liberalization in essential

sectors and favoured consolidating the domineering

position of private oligopolies controlled by

29

transnational corporations (page 8)

- Boosting fair regulation of financial transactions (page

8)

BNG Industry - Boosting the opening of a negotiating process in the

EU to check 2004 agreements (that limit till 2015 the

activity of the Fene shipyard to auxiliary jobs of the

Navantia-Ferrol shipyard) so that the Fene shipyard can

fully develop its production in naval civil construction

(page 21)

- Guarantee the necessary financial support for the naval

sector in Galicia, which allows undertaking new projects

and attracting international orders (page 21)

- Request that the EU allows the “tax lease” while the

process started by the Commission is not solved with

regard to its application in Spain; and to solve this

process without suspending the “tax lease”,

contemplating the strategic nature of the naval sector

(page 21)

BNG Agriculture and

Rural Development

- Maintenance of the mechanisms of public intervention

in agricultural markets that are efficient in smoothing

price oscillations (page 22)

- Standards that improve the regulation of the milk price

reference, and extended to other food products, so that

production costs are born in mind and the transparency is

guaranteed in forming prices that eradicate speculative

profit (page 22)

BNG Maritime Affairs and

Fishing

- Consideration that Galicia is a region that is highly

dependent on fishing (page 22)

- Treatment differentiated for coastal fishing and

shellfishing (page 22)

- Modification of the principle of relative stability;

replacing the system for totally permitted catches and

quotas for others that, by ensuring the stability of

resources, bears in mind the historical rights of Galicia

and her fishing efforts (page 22)

- Renovation or subscription of fishing agreements with

third countries to support the weight of the Galician

fleet, having the opinion that Galicia is binding when

agreements affect employment and maintenance of

productive potential (page 22)

BNG Digital Agenda - Promotion of a European regulation protecting software

not based on granting patents, but on the intellectual

property law, along the lines of what was agreed by the

European Parliament concerning the Directive on the

patentability of computer-implemented inventions (page

23)

30

BNG Multilevel

Government

- EU presence of Galicia according to the legal - political

recognition of the nations integrating the Spanish State

(page 31)

CC Agriculture and

Rural Development

- Treatment differentiating the ultraperipheral regions

(UPRs) before future CAP reforms. For example, the

design of specific rural development policies for UPRs

or flexibilization of applying European directives on

state aid to the agricultural and forestry sectors (page 38)

CC Other Policies or


of Public Policies

- Adapting Europeans policies to the reality of

ultraperipheral regions (page 74)

CC Space of Freedom,


- An integral strategy to address the migratory

phenomenon, based on solidarity between the states, and

in the co-responsibility of the different levels, regional,

state and European, including the reinforcement of

cooperation with countries of origin (page 74)

- Measures to arrange migratory flows and to favour the

integration of legal immigrants (page 74)

- Efficient measures to fight against irregular

immigration (page 74)

CC Financial

Programming and

Budget

- Achieve within the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial

Framework: support the objective of convergence and

competitiveness, as well as the Outermost Region Fund at

the same current amount (35 EUR/inhab.); so that the

objective of territorial cooperation is reinforced; include

the Canary Islands in the new “intermediate category” in

its capacity as an outermost region irrespective of its

GDP, maintenance of the 85% co-financing rate and the

possibility of continuing to apply the menu of priorities

susceptible of European co-financing for the

convergence objective (page 75)

CC Deepening - Greater common, political governance, which includes

not only the economy but also the environmental policy,

and that for security or the foreign policy (page 88)

CC Economic and


Euro

- Increase the financial capacity and flexibility of the use

of the European recovery fund (page 88)

- Include economic sustainable development in the

objectives of the ECB (page 88)

- European Rating Agency (page 88)

- A Eurobond market must be created at this time (page

88)

Compromís-

Q

Agriculture and

Rural Development

- Priority defence of the interests of the Valencian

agricultural sector in negotiating and applying the new

CAP, foreseen for the period 2014-2020 on signing

agreements with third countries and in areas of the WTO

(page 20)

31

Compromís-

Q

Space of Freedom,


- Common migratory policy, and common criteria for

controlling borders, the battle against mafia networks

that deal with people, etc. (page 55)

- Contribution to resolving the problem of small

immigration boats, through agreements regarding

entrance from African countries (page 55)

- Forcefulness in demanding African countries to

recognize and repatriate people arriving in an irregular

manner (page 55)

Compromís-

Q

International

Cooperation,

Humanitarian Aid

and Response to

Crises

- Intensify quantitatively and qualitatively the

cooperation for development with African countries of

origin of the irregular immigrants (page 55)

Compromís-

Q

Economic and


Euro

- Economic Rating Agency within Europe (page 68)

- Obligation for EU members receiving economic aid,

besides practising fiscal discipline, to adopt measures of

structural growth in the medium and long term (page 68)

Compromís-

Q

Trade - Defence of national industrial products (Valencian or

Spanish) against unfair competition of extra-EU

products, promoting the relevant European legislation

(greater control of pernicious and harmful consumer

products, those made by children or quasi slavery, those

causing pollution when manufactured, etc.) and

concerned that this is put into practice (page 75)

Compromís-

Q

Internal Market and

Competition

- Promotion of mobility of workers (page 102)

Foro

Asturias

Agriculture and

Rural Development

- CAP reform that recognizes the singularities of the

agricultural activity in Spain (page 30)

Foro

Asturias

Maritime Affairs and

Fishing

- Establishment of a spatial regime for non-industrial

fishing, from both a management and financial point of

view (page 32)

Foro

Asturias

Energy - Development of the single energy market, which

requires the approval and construction of more electricity

and gas interconnections with France making access to

Central European markets possible (page 38)

- Increase international connections that allow greater

competition and safety for supplying energy (page 39)

Foro

Asturias

Tax System - Harmonizing certain aspects for regulating Corporation

Tax (page 47)

- Fight against the existence of tax heavens in European

territory (page 47)

- Design and start-up of a transparent fiscal policy (page

87)

Foro

Asturias

Foreign policy and

Neighbourhood

- Strengthening (page 87)

- Greater role of Spain in relations with Latin-American

32

policy countries (page 88)

Foro

Asturias

Transport - Incorporation of the Cantabrian Corridor within the

planned Trans-European Corridors (page 103)

Geroa Bai Multilevel

Government

- Direct presence of Navarre in European institutions in

defence of exclusive competence and identity (pages 10

and 12)

Geroa Bai Economic and


Euro

- European Rating Agency which addresses public

interest (page 17)

- Reform of the ECB so that money can be loaned

directly to the states to finance their debt (page 17)

- Change the interest rate that the ECB charges banks, so

it continues to be 1% only for funds used to increase

company credit, including SMEs and the self-employed.

Increasing the rate significantly for funds that banks use

to purchase public debt (page 17)

Geroa Bai Regional Policy - Boost Euro regions; create and boost the Navarre-

Basque-Aquitaine Euro region (page 20)

Geroa Bai Agriculture and

Rural Development

- Active participation of Navarre in European forums

which set the main lines of agricultural policies (page

38)

Geroa Bai Deepening - Boost the political process for a united Europe as a

factor of greater equilibrium, justice and peace in the

world (page 44)


4.4 Proposals on European issues introduced by the Partido Popular (PP) and the Partido

Socialista (PSOE) through other communication channels

In this section we provide the results from examining the introduction of European

issues on 20-N by both political forces with aspirations of leading the Government of

Spain, PP and PSOE, through various communication channels, in the following order:

specialized articles signed by their candidates for Presidency, televised face-to-face debate

between their leaders, their accounts in the twitter social network and their interviews in the

El País newspaper published a few days before the election.

The following table shows the proposals concerning the EU as contained in the

articles published by Mariano Rajoy and Alfredo P. Rubalcaba in issue number 144 of

volume 25, for November/December 2011, of the Política Exterior magazine.

The article signed by the candidate of the PP for the Presidency of the Government

is entitled “Mi visión de Europa y España en el mundo” [My vision of Europe and Spain in

33

the world], and it covers pages 40 to 47 of the issue. The contribution made by the

candidate of the PSOE is entitled of “Política exterior para tiempos de crisis” [Foreign

policy in times of crisis], and covers pages 48 to 56.

The value of the analysis of the content of these texts lies in the fact that they set a

specific position and also priorities on these affairs.

TABLE 4.3: CODED PROPOSALS OF THE ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY M. RAJOY

AND A. P. RUBALCABA IN THE POLÍTICA EXTERIOR MAGAZINE


M. Rajoy Economic and


Euro

- Greater economic integration (page 42)

- Strict observance of the Stability and Growth Pact (page

42)

- Rescuing European banks (page 42)

- Integration of bank supervision (page 42)

M. Rajoy Internal Market and

Competition

- Culmination of internal market financial services (page

42)

M. Rajoy Financial

Programming and

Budget

- With a view to the negotiation of financial perspectives:

sufficiency of resources of the Union; reasonable

transitional period for Spanish regions beyond the

convergence objective; and incorporation of a specific

instrument of funding SMEs, main sources of creating

employment (page 42)

M. Rajoy Transport - Fomenting trans-European networks (page 42)

M. Rajoy Agriculture and Rural

Development

- Maintenance of a strong CAP to defend our agricultural

and cattle sector (page 42)

M. Rajoy Space of Freedom,


- Consolidation, especially concerning the battle against

terrorism and organized crime (page 43)

- Advance towards a common immigration policy for

better management of migratory flows (page 43)

M. Rajoy Foreign policy and

Neighbourhood

policy

- United and active common foreign policy (page 43)

- Common foreign policy that duly attends the most

important areas for Spain, such as Latin America (page

43), Morocco or Algeria (page 44)

- Special relations with the USA, as the most important

strategic partner of the EU (page 43)

- Review of the European Neighbourhood Policy that

gives priority to the advances in the democracy processes

in southern shore countries of the Mediterranean (page 44)

- Notable role of Spain in strengthening Euro-

Mediterranean relations (page 44)

- The EU must help to advance in peace negotiations in

the Middle East, and be active in the Quartet (USA, EU,

34

United Nations and Russia) (page 45)

- Intensify EU activity in international organizations –

such as United Nations - and the new frames of

conciliation – such AS G-20- (page 46)

M. Rajoy International

Cooperation,

Humanitarian Aid and

Response to Crises

- Close coordination between the EU and USA regarding

objectives and aid strategies for development (page 44)

- The objectives of the Millennium Development form a

fundamental roadmap (page 45)

- Not to curtail efforts in Africa regarding cooperation for

development (page 45)

M. Rajoy Security and Defence

Policy

-Boost, using new dispositions and perspectives opened by

the Lisbon Treaty (page 46)

- Better cooperation between the EU and NATO (page 46)

A. P.

Rubalcaba

Economic and


Euro

- Complete monetary union with an economic and

financial union (page 52)

- Reduction of interest rates by the European Central Bank

(ECB) (page 52)

- Ultimately reaffirming the lender's role of the ECB (page

52)

- Urgent recapitalization of European banking (page 52)

- Consolidating a mechanism for resolving bankruptcies,

both financial and national (page 52)

- Eurobonds to assist funding everyone’s debt (page 52)

- Greater intervention of the ECB for funding the

sovereign debt (page 52)

- Configuration of an economic government through more

regular meetings of the Heads of State and Governments

of Euro countries (page 52)

A. P.

Rubalcaba

Tax System - A European Exchequer, in the long term (page 52)

- Creation of a European Ministry of Finance, with the

capacity to supervise and even intervene in national

accounts. Meanwhile, a European commissioner should

take charge of this task (page 52)

- Tax on international financial transactions, paid into the

European Exchequer (page 52)

- Fiscal union (page 52)

A. P.

Rubalcaba

Foreign policy and

Neighbourhood

policy

- The strategic and global support plan of the EU for an

Association for Democracy and Joint Prosperity joined by

countries from the Arab world as they seriously enter

transition processes towards democracy must be staggered

and adapted to every situation, ending up by creating a

democratic block in the region. This should contribute to a

reformed Union for the Mediterranean (page 54)

- The EU, in the frame of efforts by the Quartet (USA,

EU, United Nations and Russia) must help to boost an

initiative within a reasonable term that ultimately,

35

pacifically and constructively reaches a long peace

process in the Middle East based on two States, which

should accompany the Palestinian claim at the UN (pages

54 and 55)


We comment below on the political information on European affairs introduced by

the candidates of the PP and the PSOE through the only televised debate of the campaign,

held on 7 November.

This face-to-face debate was structured on three blocks: 1) economy and

employment (20 minutes for each candidate); 2) social policy (15 minutes for each); 3)

democratic quality, Spain’s position worldwide and politics in general (10 minutes for each

contender)15

, preceded by a general two-minute intervention by each candidate, concluded

by closing without any references to the rival party lasting three minutes for each candidate.

We can see how the PP candidate insists on one of his main campaign messages: the

importance of “doing homework at home”; but pointing out the programmatic proposals of

his party regarding the EU. The socialist candidate, on his part, took advantage of

informing about some measures of an economic nature, which are coded in the following

table.

TABLE 4.4: CODED PROPOSALS INTRODUCED BY M. RAJOY AND A. P.

RUBALCABA IN THE ONLY TELEVISED DEBATE


M. Rajoy None None

A. P. Rubalcaba Economic and


Euro

- Two-year delay, until 2015, for adjusting the

deficit in Spain

- Decreasing interest rates by the European

Central Bank

- With EUR 70,000 million, the European

Investment Bank has to undertake a huge

investment plan, which would be like a European

Marshall Plan for which SMEs can compete.


15

The minutes consumed by each rival were counted, including interrupting the other candidate.

36

Next, the table below gives the proposals outlined by the Partido Popular (PP) and

the Partido Socialista (PSOE), through the twitter accounts of their candidates for the

Presidency of the Government, Mariano Rajoy and Alfredo P. Rubalcaba.16

As we are interested in the introduction of European issues in the campaign through

this social network, when examining the tweets, the replies to other network users are not

taken into account. If we were to do this, we would collect redundant information, the same

as we obtained when analyzing the content of the PP and PSOE programs. This is because

the campaign teams respond to the tweets reproducing content from the election program.

We examined tweets up to 18 November, the day the 20-N campaign closed,

inclusive.

The order of presentation of the affairs in the table is temporary for introducing the

first proposal on the matter through this social network, starting with the winning

candidate, M. Rajoy.

TABLE 4.5: CODED PROPOSALS PUBLISHED IN THE TWITTER ACCOUNTS OF M.

RAJOY AND A. P. RUBALCABA


M. Rajoy Agriculture and

Rural Development

- We promise not to support the CAP reform proposal

(14 October)

A.P. Rubalcaba Agriculture and

Rural Development

- We will defend a restrictive CAP (10 October)

- Rejection of the CAP reform (14 and 25 October, 16

November)

A.P. Rubalcaba Economic and

Monetary Affairs

and Euro

- Reduction of interest rates from the European Central

Bank (ECB) (11 October; 7, 9 and 15 November)

- Eurobonds (11 October; 15 and 17 November)

- Common economic policy (13 October)

- Strengthening the ECB (26 October)

- Bank recapitalization (28 October)

- Delay the deficit adjustment till 2015 (7 November)

- European Marshall Plan (7, 9 and 14 November)


16

As an anecdote, on 26 November 2011, the day when we collected and recorded this information, the PP

candidate had 143,616 followers in this social network, and the socialist candidate, 83,604.

37

Other information of interest for the studying purposes of this piece of research was

obtained from examining the twitter account of M. Rajoy as follows: a) on 29 October, this

political message was published: "I do not want to be in Europe in the gang of

blunderbusses, I want Spain to be with the best”; b) in the same sense, regarding the face-

to-face debate with Rubalcaba, he twittered this sentence: "Spain is the 4th

country in the

Eurozone and must have a more important role than it has now”; and c) 14 on November,

the link was made available for the article published in the Política Exterior magazine “Mi

visión de Europa y España en el mundo” [My vision of Europe and Spain in the world].

In the same way, in the account of the PSOE candidate, A. P. Rubalcaba, we find

the following information of benefit: a) the message that the solution to the crisis is in

Europe [on 9 October he wrote: "We claim unity to Europe to be stronger, to generate

employment, we must all join together at all levels”/for the candidate’s visit to Strasbourg,

on 25 October, he twittered: "Today Rubalcaba visits the European Parliament in

Strasbourg and will be meeting the progressive alliance of socialists and democrats” or

“Europe can continue summoning a meeting to self organize herself for another one or we

can advance decisively, confronting the problems”; on 9 November he wrote: "If we have

learned something in the EU about this crisis it is that either we all come out of it together

or we are going to have a very bad time”]; and b) these concerns promptly defending the

management of the previous socialist government, of which the candidate was an

outstanding member: "The Minister of Development, José Blanco, has managed to include

five Spanish corridors in the Trans-European Transport network” (19 October)/“It is

evident that the intervention of the Spanish government in 2010 took us out of the tense

financial limelight (Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy)” (14 November).

Finally, we mention the proposals that the candidates introduce in their responses to

the interviews granted to the El País newspaper. The interview of the PP candidate was

published on 16 November; whereas the interview with the socialist candidate saw light

two days later, on the 18th.

The value is to observe whether the main political messages of the PP and PSOE

campaigns include any that refer to European affairs. An ingenuous reader might think that

the responses to the interviews are determined by the questions; but, in actual fact the

candidates use this opportunity to address the very extensive number of voters, including

38

the country’s political analysts just a few days before election day to ratify their header

messages.

The PP candidate does not even introduce one single proposal on decisions that will

be adopted in the future at supranational level (a job for which, among others, Spanish

representatives are indirectly chosen at the general elections). On the other hand, they do

take advantage of multiple questions at the interview to concentrate attention on the

message about commitment of austerity: "I have the firm and unbreakable commitment to

comply with our commitments of permanency in the single currency”.

The socialist candidate, however, did mention some programmatic proposals in the

economic sector, which are coded in the following table.

TABLE 4.6: CODED PROPOSALS CONTAINED IN THE INTERVIEWS GIVEN TO

THE EL PAÍS NEWSPAPER BY M. RAJOY AND A. P. RUBALCABA


M. Rajoy None None

A. P. Rubalcaba Economic and

Monetary Affairs

and Euro

- Common economic policy

- Efforts by the European Investment Bank to back

public investment in countries with difficulties to

fund investments

- Greater intervention by the European Central

Bank (ECB) to solve the debt crisis

- Reduction of interest rates by the ECB

- Extension from two to four years of the pace for

adjusting the deficit


5. DISCUSSION

The results from analyzing the content of the various different political texts show,

in the first place, how in contrast to the continuous deepening of the European integration

process and the increasing number of public decisions adopted at EU supranational level

(among others, by Prime Ministers and Ministers of national Governments), every time

Spanish political parties pay less attention to European affairs in general election

campaigns.

39

The combined with salience position on the EU of the various parties represented in

the Spanish Parliament reached its maximum in the 1989 elections (5.2), and has not

stopped descending since then until reaching 0.9 in the 2011 elections.

The coding of the election proposals using the new classification scheme allows the

following: to identify priorities on EU affairs for every party individually or as a group; and

compare the party proposals by category, valuing the hypothetical reduction of the electoral

competition.

As predictable in a crisis context, in the 20-N campaign, the most important EU

issues for the parties that obtained seats in Congress were those related to economic and

financial affairs, as shown in the graph below.

GRAPH 5.1: MOST RELEVANT EU AFFAIRS IN SPANISH ELECTION 2011

Economic and

monetary affairs and

Euro

Tax system

Agriculture and rural

development

Space of Freedom,


Foreign Policy and

Neighbourhood Policy

Others

Source: prepared by the author

40

Almost one of every three programmatic proposals (29%) concerns economic

affairs including Tax System (categories 304 and 305); in the context of a new reform of

the Common Agricultural Policy, 11% of the measures refers to Agriculture and Rural

Development; and 10% and 9% respectively to domestic and foreign policy.

In view of the content of the proposals of the 12 parties we studied, we can confirm

that in the 20-N elections, the EU was very far from being a dimension of electoral

competition. All the Spanish parties, except the BNG, are in favour of entering deeper into

European integration; the only reference opposing “more Europe” in the group of

programmatic proposals can be found on page 8 of the BNG program, where they propose

Eurobonds with the following undertone “without implying additional transfers of

sovereignty or competences to community institutions”.

Our information also proves something we already suspected: the position on the

EU in the Manifesto Project could give rise to misinterpretations, as it does not differentiate

the references contrary to certain decisions on public policies about references opposing

European integration. The most evident example we find is from the IU program, a party

with a combined with salience position in these elections, as in the four earlier ones (since

1996), negative (-0.8 in 2011), and committed in their 20-N program to “go to a new

European constitution process that constructs a social Europe” (page 82).

Based on our classification, it is really quite easy to compare party proposals, and to

verify that the proposals on EU affairs are a reflexion of their political preferences in the

traditional dimensions of competition in Spanish general elections: left-right and centre-

periphery.

All non-state parties in Catalonia, Galicia, Navarre and the Basque Country (CiU,

ERC, BNG, PNV and Geroa Bai), irrespective of their position in the left-right scale, make

very similar proposals in category 201 “Multilevel Government”. None of the other parties

gives their opinion on these issues.

The narrowing of competition is manifest. The proximity of the proposals of all the

political forces is highly significant, not only with regard to the economy, but also to the

rest of European issues, as can be seen by category when consulting the information

provided in the above paragraph.

41

When concentrating on the comparison of the PP and the PSOE, the only undertone

between their major proposals on the EU is the greater relevance that the PSOE gives to

fiscal reforms and to a more active role of supranational institutions in the economic

governance of the Eurozone.

The following graphs represent the importance of the different EU affairs for each

of these two parties using the coded programmatic proposals.

GRAPH 5.2: DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAMMATIC PROPOSALS ON EU AFFAIRS -

PARTIDO POPULAR (PP)

Widening

3%

Financial

programming and

budget

11%Single market and

competence

3%

Trade

3%

Economic and


Euro

32%

Agriculture and

rural development

6%

Regional policy

3%

Space of Freedom,


12%

Foreign Policy and


9%

International

cooperation,

humanitarian aid and

response to crises

3%

Education and

youth

6%

Digital

agenda

3%

Energy

3%

Transport

3%

Others

18%


42

GRAPH 5.3: DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAMMATIC PROPOSALS ON EU AFFAIRS -

PARTIDO SOCIALISTA (PSOE)

Widening

3%

Deepening

3%Democratization

3%

EU institutions and

organs

6%

Political parties at

European level

3%

Financial programming

and budget

12%

Economic and


Euro

20%

Tax system

17%

Agriculture and rural

development

3%Maritime affairs and

fishing

3%

Space of Freedom,


6%

Foreign Policy and


18%

Security and Defence

Policy

3%

Others

33%

Source: prepared by the author

As a product of the information contained in the programs, and extending it with

that obtained when examining other material, we can verify how, when not only interested

in the positioning but also in the content of the proposals, the election program is not the

only text to be born in mind, as the parties present measures throughout the campaign that

they do not mention in the programs.

In this case, for example, as we expected, there are proposals in the articles signed

by both candidates, M. Rajoy and A. P. Rubalcaba, in the Política Exterior magazine that

do not appear in the PP and PSOE programs. The category entitled “Foreign Policy and

Neighbourhood Policy” is far more detailed in both cases in the specific articles issued later

43

on; and the socialist candidate introduces fiscal measures, which did not appear in his party

program.

However, what interests us most in the content analysis of the political information

provided by the PP and the PSOE through alternative communication channels to the

program is to demonstrate the limited interest that both parties with government aspirations

state in that citizens take into account the European issues in their decision as to which

party they should vote for in the general elections.

Rajoy does not make even one single proposal on supranational level decisions in

the televised debate, and only takes advantage of the twitter network to remind the

opposition about the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which was being

negotiated at that time in Brussels. Rubalcaba, besides also expressing through twitter an

identical opposition to the CAP reform, used the face-to-face debate and this social network

to make public some of his party’s proposals classified under the category entitled

“Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro”, especially the possibility of negotiating a two-

year delay for adjusting the deficit and a major role of the European Central Bank and the

European Investment Bank in stimulating the economy.

A greater supply of political information about the EU by the PP might have been

counter-productive from the point of view of their election interests; however, it is

surprising that the socialist candidate did not force introducing this in the electoral

competition, although he started the campaign with an enormous disadvantage and had to

try to limit the effect of the economic mismanagement by the previous government, of

which he was a part, in the election result.17

6. CONCLUSIONS

This piece of research has shown how the Spanish political parties avoided

introducing political information about the European integration process, the political

system and EU public policies in the 2011 general election campaign.

17

Those interested in the analysis of the 2011 Spanish elections, beyond the matters concerning the EU, can

consult: Martín and Urquizu-Sancho (2012) and Sánchez-Cuenca and Dinas (2012). For more about the

electoral competition in Spain, please consult: Anduiza et. al (2010), Cordero and Martín (2011), Martínez i

Coma (2008).

44

In fact, when analyzing the data on all the general elections held in Spain since

adhesion to the former European Community in 1986, we can see a common, consistent

pattern in paying less and less attention to European issues in their programs. This heavily

contrasts with the increasing number of decisions adopted at supranational level with the

participation of the Prime Minister or his Ministers, chosen indirectly at these elections.

Furthermore, we can demonstrate how the political forces that aspire to leading the

Government of Spain, the PP and the PSOE, restricted positioning, proposals and political

messages concerning the EU in communication channels such as the twitter accounts of

their candidates for the Presidency of the Government, M. Rajoy and A.P. Rubalcaba, and

at the only televised debate.

From analyzing the programs of all the parties obtaining representation in the

Congreso de los Diputados, we can draw up a classification scheme of the positions related

to EU affairs, which is useful to identify priorities and to compare political proposals.

This coding system is complementary to the Manifesto Project, and serves to

systematize information at an intermediate abstraction level that can be used for

comparative research, using both quantitative and qualitative techniques.

When observing the programmatic proposals coded with the new scheme, it is

evident that there is a clear narrowing of electoral competition in Spain, which is not found

only by transferring competence to EU institutions but also by the behaviour of national

parties that offer a few and similar proposals on European issues, not only regarding the

economy but also on domestic or foreign policy or on the future of Europe.

This piece of research has related EU democratic legitimacy to the Europeanization

of party politics. It has argued that the democratic deficit of the Union, to date, is to a good

part due to the (non)adjustment to "Europe" of state democracies. Altough being aware of

the effects of other factors such as the complexity of the institutional supranational

configuration and, in some cases, the lack of linguistic competence, the limited political

information about the Union drawn up and supplied by the parties nationally was

highlighted.

The lack of positioning, proposals and relevant political messages on the European

integration process, the institutions and actors, and EU public policies significantly limit

45

the civil capacity of influence and control on public decisions adopted in Brussels and

Strasbourg.

Some confirm that strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the Union depends on

introducing new institutional reforms at supranational level, such as giving the EU

authorities competence in tax issues that would allow them end ambitious redistribution

policies, or handling the establishment of a genuine European executive (Raunio, 2007).

Without dismissing these desirable institutional changes (and especially bearing in

mind the difficulty of reaching the necessary consensus to implement them, given the

differences that continue to exist among member states regarding the future of "Europe"

and the "final" institutional model), from our viewpoint, national parties are the first people

responsible for EU democratization, through building informed positions and offering

proposals and sufficient political messages on EU affairs, which allow citizens to exercise

influence and control on supranational public decisions, among other forms of

participation, through voting at national elections.

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