Do All Roads Lead to the Same Europe? Reconsidering the Pro-/Anti-Integration Yardstick to Measure National Party Positions Towards the EU: The Case of Belgium

Abstract

Mapping national political party attitudes towards the EU is crucial in explaining the current state of the EU and is key to understanding political alliances on European affairs. Although important, literature on the topic remains constrained by the idea that positions on European integration can be located on a single ‘pro-/anti-axis’. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate why one-dimensional typologies lead to cumbersome and misleading evaluations of party positions. Based on Easton’s theory of political support, the research undertaken hypothesises that such classifications are unable to solve the problem of divergent orientations from one sector to another. Taking Belgium as an example, I explain why Belgian political parties, generally labelled as unanimously ‘pro-integration’, can be considered as divided regarding the EU. The research is primarily based on qualitative analysis of 2009 European manifestos and interviews with party elites conducted from May to July 2010.

Keywords

• European integration
• Political parties
• Belgium
• Measurement