of European integration. terms of format and mechanics (other than in the context of a European Parliament election), national party systems appear to exhibit very little in the way of Europeanization. Mair does not consider new party formation and party splits as very salient, in the sense of having an impact upon the relevant parties in a party system. However, the two points raised by Mair regarding an indirect impact are precisely the areas of investigation for evidence of the Europeanization of political parties, for they both draw attention to altered conditions of parties primary operating environments as well as crucial associated factors. Let us focus on his two points, namely the constraints on government policy maneuverability which hollow out competition among parties with a governing aspiration, and the growing notion of the irrelevance of conventional politics, both traceable as much as possible to effects emanating from EU processes. Increasing constraints on the prerogatives of government action, or even more importantly, the perception thereof, may influence over time the classic functions of political parties, eg recruitment, election campaigning, interest aggregation, interest articulation, party government roles, etc. If we accept this assumption, then it follows that those parties with a governing aspiration have an incentive to influence this phenomenon. Influence may take the form of finding new zones of penetration available for party goal attainment, eg, the supranational dimension. Furthermore, a consequence of designing strategies to influence institutions or actors beyond the national arena may be the creation of new internal organizational patterns better able to engage this dimension or else to enhance party management, or both. An even more significant incentive for parties to adapt to these changed circumstances, though long-term in its manifestation, is growing irrelevance, defined as a diminishing capability to alter existing macroeconomic policies and a shrinking scope of issues for which resolution can be promised in election campaigns. in mind that as I have defined Europeanization there is an emphasis upon adaptation and policy change, and further, that Europeanization does not mean either convergence or harmonization, the evidence of Europeanization will vary across and within political systems. Consequently, we should view European integration as an independent variable and increased government policy constraints and the public perception of growing irrelevance of conventional politics as dependent variables. European integration influences the operating arenas, or environments, of national political parties, and the Europeanization of parties is consequently a dependent variable. We should search for evidence of party adaptation to this changed environment, be it policy change and/or organisational change. In other words, the Europeanization of political parties will be reflected in their response to the changes in their environments. The response can be identified in new and sometimes innovative relationships, policies or structures. political parties, unlike government bureaucracies, individual politicians, and interest groups, do not have the ability or opportunity to develop privileged or intimate relationships with authoritative EU actors. Interest groups may independently approach similar organisations in other EU member states in order to create European level associations, or respond to entreaties by the European Commission itself. Government agencies and bureaucracies come into contact with EU institutions, or else are obliged to develop new administrative means with which to translate EU regulations, directives, etc. into corresponding national ones. National government politicians may come to develop personal in Council of Minister meetings, European Council, etc. All of these actors have a certain amount of latitude in their adaptation to EU inputs, or else have little choice, as in the case of government agencies, and must therefore liase as quickly as possible in order to avoid negative repercussions later. Political parties, as I assume, have the incentive and motivation to come to terms with the changes in their environment as it impacts their fortunes, but unlike the examples just given, they are constrained in a number of ways. The most basic dilemma, though perhaps not so obvious, is that there is little if anything in the way of resources that the EU possesses that can be translated into a positive gain for a political party. New and explicit rules forbid a transfer of EU funds to national parties: The funding fo...
