Europeanization

Abstract

Contrary to the process of delegation of power downwards toward the regions, the transfer of political autonomy upwards toward EU institutions has not generated intense or highly politicized debate in Spain. Indeed, one of the main characteristics of the Spanish case is that party conflict over European integration and extreme euroskeptical parties are absent (Closa and Heywood, 2004; Arregui, 2007; Díez Medrano, 1995, 2003, 2007; Morata, 1998, 2004; Morata and Mateo, 2007; Piedrafita et al., 2006; Szczerbiak and Taggart, 2003; Kriesi et al., 2008; Hooghe and Marks, 2009; Rodríguez Aguilera, 2013, 2014). Although political parties can be critical of specific EU policies, they have neither questioned Spanish membership nor opposed the project of European integration. After Franco’s death, identification with the EU became an important element in the political discourse of democratization, blurring ideological differences between political parties over EU issues, and making the emergence of euroskepticism unlikely (Closa, 1995; Quintanilla, 2000; Díez Medrano, 2003; Closa and Heywood, 2004).