Party Families, Groups and Transnational Parties—The Unique Arrangements of European Representation
摘要
In 2024, six transnational European-level parties contested the elections to the European Parliament (EP). The mainstream political party families all produced manifestos and some nominated Spitzenkandidaten to be Commission President. The aim of this chapter is to provide some historical background to explain the differences between EP Groups and EU-level parties, before turning to the transnational manifestos, campaigns and lead candidates deployed by the main party families in 2024. It concludes with a word on the newer Eurosceptic and far-right parties that have traditionally been reluctant to work together, yet which sometimes find themselves sitting together in the EP.