2 - The Politicization of European Cooperation

Summary

The chapter provides a discussion and a historical overview of the changing motives for EU governments to act responsively in EU negotiations. Employing a variety of different data sources at the national and the European level, I demonstrate that European incumbent governments are increasingly pressured to signal that their conduct in the European Union is responsive to the preferences of their citizens. In particular, incumbents are increasingly worried about their reelection chances because of the increasing partisan dealignment and electoral volatility. These governments dearly want to appear responsive to their electorates for this very reason, but they face mounting challenges to use policies at the national level to achieve this goal. At the same time, European integration has politicized domestically, and consequently EU level negotiations and policies have become electorally more relevant to domestic voters. In turn, they have become more likely to hold their governments accountable for their policy choices and the negotiation outcomes they can achieve in the EU.