Problems of European integration in ideology and strategy of radical left parties

Abstract

Aim. The study identifies the key ideological and strategic attitudes of radical left parties towards the European integration and the European Union.Methodology. The study uses the comparative method, the method of system analysis, the institutional method, and the historical method. The paper systematizes the existing theoretical approaches to the study of party-based Euroscepticism. The author’s classification of the positions of radical left parties towards the EU and European integration is presented.Results. The analysis showed that the attitude to European integration is the main point of contradictions within the radical left party family. Disagreements between Euro-reformists and Eurosceptics have led to the emergence of competing party confederations at the European level: The Party of the European Left, The Initiative of Communist and Workers’ Parties, Now the People (Maintenant le Peuple), DiEM25, that makes the relationship between the radical left parties of the EU countries even more complex. The development of a coherent and distinct vision of the European Union remains one of the most important strategic tasks for radical left parties.Research implications. The study helps to clarify the ideological and strategic positions of radical left parties and their place in the EU political process.

Keywords

• left
• radical left parties
• European integration
• European Union
• Euroscepticism