Are centre-right parties in Europe becoming more Pro-European?

Term Paper (Advanced seminar) , 2010 , 20 Pages , Grade: 2.3

Politics - Topic: European Union

This essay examines how centre-right parties in Central and Eastern Europe change in their ambitions to become a member of the European Union. The study will briefly categorize centre-right parties in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in order to identify relevant case studies. It is then assumed that ongoing European integration processes have an apparent impact on the domestic level, and in particular on parties´ opportunity structures within the national political arena. In the end, they inevitably adapt to these external pressures by either reacting receptive or by criticizing or rejecting the European project. Based on this assumption, the second part addresses the programmatic development and stance on Europe of major centre-right parties in Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic between 1990 and 2006.

In the same way that the European Union (EU) generally has deepened its policies and widened its geographic silhouette for decades, centre-right parties would be expected to become more ‘pro-European’. In contrast, the aim of this essay is too prove this assumption wrong.

While some comprehensive studies indicate such an interrelation for Western European centre-right parties, this does not bear in cases of centre-right parties in Central Eastern European (CEE) countries. These parties were all too enthusiastic about the break-down of the communist Soviet Union and the incipient era of democratic and economic transition and proclaimed accession to the European Union as an immediate necessity in their foreign policy agendas.

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Outline

1 Introduction

2 Post-Communist CEE Countries between Nation and Europe

2.1 Categorization of Centre-Right Parties in Eastern Europe

2.2 History & Euroscepticism

3 One size fits all? Empirical evidence

3.1 Case Study I: The Czech Civic Democratic Party

3.2 Case Study II: The Slovak Christian Democratic Movement

3.3 Case Study III: Fidesz ­ Hungarian Civic Union

4 Conclusion

5 Reference List

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1 Introduction

`[T]he European Union is a centrist project. The European Union has been created by

mainstream parties ­ Christian democrats, liberals, social democrats, and conservatives'

(Marks et al. 2006: 163). Following this claim we would expect, among other parties,

centre-right formations in Europe to be supporters and promoters of European

integration. In the same way that the European Union (EU) generally has deepened its

policies and widened its geographic silhouette for decades, centre-right parties would

be expected to become more `pro-European'.

In contrast, the aim of this essay is too prove this assumption wrong. While some

comprehensive studies indicate such an interrelation for Western European centre-right

parties (cf. Gaffney 1996), this does not bear in cases of centre-right parties in Central

Eastern European (CEE) countries. These parties were all too enthusiastic about the

break-down of the communist Soviet Union and the incipient era of democratic and

economic transition and proclaimed accession to the European Union as an immediate

necessity in their foreign policy agendas. The path to the first round of Eastern

enlargement of the EU in 2004, and another round three years later, was however hard-

won and time consuming. The main argument thus is twofold: (1) Centre-right party

formations in Eastern Europe became slightly less ambitious and rather more

Eurosceptic throughout the 1990s and even beyond accession of their respective

countries to the EU; and (2) they anyhow at no point questioned or opposed European

Union membership.

In its opening section, this essay will briefly categorize centre-right parties in

post-communist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in order to identify relevant case

studies emphasising the major argument. The question under consideration requires

particular understanding of what more or less `pro-European' actually means. It is then

assumed that ongoing European integration processes have an apparent impact on the

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domestic level, and in particular on parties´ opportunity structures within the national

political arena. In the end, they inevitably adapt to these external pressures by either

reacting receptive or by criticising or rejecting the European project. Based on this

assumption, the second part addresses the programmatic development and stance on

Europe of major centre-right parties in Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic

between 1990 and 2006. The essay concludes with a short assessment of what the in-

depth analyses of the case studies reveal in order to answer the question.

2 Post-Communist CEE Countries between Nation and Europe

2.1 Categorization of Centre-Right Parties in Eastern Europe

The essay is based upon Hanley´s definition of centre-right parties in CEE

countries as `seeking broad electoral support for programmes fusing elements of

liberalism (including neo-liberalism) and varieties of conservatism, which balance the

demands of post-communist social transformation, modernization and Europeanization

with older historical identities and ideologies' (2004: 23). In the cases of Central and

Eastern Europe, a cross-national classification of centre-right parties to one party family

is hardly feasible. According to Hanley, these parties however commonly share a

certain affiliation with centre-right formations in the `old Europe' (2008: 4), but still

lack `the broad appeal and integrative ability of their West European counterparts'

(Szczerbiak and Hanley 2006: 16). Another similarity is their historical rootedness

within the anti-communist opposition movements of the pre-1989 era, when they sought

for an end to Soviet authority and Western-style democracy (Hanley 2004b: 40). Their

centre-right successor parties hence thoroughly share a distinct attachment to Western

Europe and European institutions.

To simplify matters, this essay will refer to the classification of centre-right

parties by Szczerbiak and Hanley (2006: 11). Accordingly, the Czech Civic Democratic

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Party (ODS), the Slovak Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and the Fidesz ­

Hungarian Civic Union are chosen as case studies under scrutiny. Besides, all these

parties are members of the centre-right European political party (EPP) family. Although

Lewis identifies this conspicuous characteristic as common ground for centre-right

parties in CEE countries (2007: 186-190), this says rather little about programmatic and

ideological analogies among them as they still can ­ and indeed do

­ vary greatly. Even scholars have problems finding distinct definitions. While

Vachudova label the selected parties as `moderate' (2001), Chan refer to them as

`traditional conservatives' (2001: 159-162). Lewis, however, distinguishes between

`conservative' and `liberal-conservative' right-wing parties (2000: 51-52). This kind of

elusiveness of centre-right parties in CEE countries additionally stresses the necessity

to do a one by one in-depth analysis of single case studies rather than following a

comparative approach.

2.2 History & Euroscepticism

The selected case studies will be studied under the assumption of distinct

historical path dependence. This theoretical approach emphasise the claim that different

political outcomes ­ here the party stance on Europe ­ can result even from akin starting

points, viz. the phase of transition and democratization in the post-communist era. Not

only do `specific patterns of timing and sequence matter' (Pierson 2000: 251), but also

apparently small incidents can cause huge effects and once implemented, a certain

modus operandi may be irreversible. Previous decisions and outcomes somehow shape

current and future ones. Therefore, the party positions towards European integration

will be analysed along election campaigns and programmatic documents prior to

parliamentary elections, beginning with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and the first

democratic elections in the aftermath until national elections in 2006.

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The table below contains a chronologic listing of national election results of the

three political parties between 1990 and 2006 and indicates whether the party was in

government or in opposition. The purpose is to put party developments along the

timeframe into context and to supplement the picture of the parties´ evolutionary

process. On the other hand, the chart shall improve the credibility of historical path

dependence that is used in this essay.

Few scholars undertook research projects on comparative party politics in general, and

on stances of CEE centre-right parties on Europe in particular. Such attempts seldom

result in generalised comparative statements than in miscellanies uniting various single

case studies (Szczerbiak and Hanley 2006; Bugajski 2002; Szczerbiak and Taggart

2008). Others even challenge the comparability of positions parties have on Europe and

refer to different national settings and domestic political and socio-cultural structures

(Conti 2007: 193-194). While convergent paths among centre-right parties in CEE

countries are unlikely, the political outcome ­ the stance on European integration ­ can

be akin to each other. As slightly increasing Euroscepticism is anticipated in the selected

case studies, the essay will focus only on what it means to become less `pro-European'.

Taggart and Szczerbiak for instance distinguish between `soft' and `hard'

Euroscepticism. While the former one refers to `concerns on one (or a number) of policy

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areas [that] lead to the expression of qualified opposition to the EU, or where there is a

sense that `national interest' is currently at odds with the EU´s trajectory', the latter one

expects `principled opposition to the EU and European integration' (2008: 7). Kopecký

and Mudde elaborated on this categorization and point out correctly that Eurosceptics

still `support the general ideas of European integration, but are pessimistic about the

EU´s current and/or future reflection of these ideas' (2002: 302). This suitable concept

shall hereinafter be applied to the three selected case studies.

3 One size fits all? Empirical evidence

3.1 Case Study I: The Czech Civic Democratic Party

Immediately after the breakdown of the communist regimes in CEE in the

course of the year 1989, economic and democratic transition processes began to evolve

in each of these countries to a more or less progressive extent. Associated with this, and

in particular in the case of the Czech Republic, `Europe' became a main focus in

political debates and public arenas (Hanley 2002: 1). It all began with the `Velvet

Revolution' of 1989, when the communist authoritarian regime was overcome in a non-

violent revolution (Bradley 1992: 66-105). This case study will focus on the Czech

Civic Democratic Party (ODS), which was founded in 1991 by Václav Klaus. He was

chairman of the party until 2002. Klaus, who led Czechoslovakia as finance minister

(1990-1992) and later as Czech prime minister (1992-1997), formed a liberal-market

oriented centre-right party that sought to refrain from communism as far as possible and

favoured a Western-like conservatism (Hanley 2004: 29). In the parliamentary election

of 1992, the ODS gained 29.73% of the votes and became the strongest party in the

Czech parliament and in government. Four years later, in 1996, the party repeated its

success with 29.62% of the electorate supporting the ODS.

• College: University of Bath
• Grade: 2.3
• Author: Ron Böhler (Author)
• Publication Year: 2010
• Pages: 20
• Catalog Number: V376555
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668538214
• ISBN (Book): 9783668538221
• Language: English
• Tags: europe, pro-european