Paper prepared for the 7th ECPR General Conference, Bordeaux, 4-7 September Europe in Campaign (Spanish General Election 2011)

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1 Paper prepared for the 7th ECPR General Conference, Bordeaux, 4-7 September 2013 Europe in Campaign (Spanish General Election 2011) Cristina Ares Castro-Conde Santiago de Compostela University, Spain Abstract The 2011 Spanish elections were held in the context of the Euro crisis and following two changes of government in the Eurozone, i.e. Greece and Italy, without popular voting. This paper links the debate on the democratic deficit of the EU with the Europeanization or adjustment to "Europe" of party politics in member states. The argument is as follows: in spite of the notable democratization of supranational institutions throughout the European integration process, the legitimacy of the EU continues to be weak, among other factors, because of the way in which national parties have adjusted to "Europe". This research has two fundamental aims. The first is to analyze the introduction of European issues in the 2011 Spanish election campaign. The second is to draw up a classification system of the political proposals concerning EU affairs for obtaining comparable information about the Europeanization of electoral competition. The following material was used: a) data from the Manifesto Project for this election; b) the programs of the parties that obtained representation in the Congreso de los Diputados on 20-N; and c) political information (positioning, proposals, messages) published by the two main Spanish parties [Partido Popular (PP) and Partido Socialista (PSOE)] through the following communication channels: the Política Exterior magazine, the El País newspaper, the accounts in twitter of their candidates for the Presidency of the Government (M. Rajoy and A. P. Rubalcaba respectively), and the only televised debate. The methodology used is content analysis. Proposals are coded by means of quasisentences on the European integration process, the political system and the public policies of the EU contained in the election programs of 12 parties, plus other political texts from the PP and PSOE election campaigns. Empirical evidence shows how the parties assessed the introduction of European issues into the electoral competition, undermining citizens of the possibility of structuring their vote in a relevant manner in order to influence and control decisions adopted at supranational level. 1

2 The classification scheme of the proposals related to EU affairs consists of 29 categories structured in 3 areas (European integration process, institutions and actors, and EU public policies); and it allows analyzing the proposals of the political parties on these matters from a comparative viewpoint, using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Key words: Europeanization, Spanish general election 2011, EU democratic deficit, political parties SUMMARY 1. Introduction 2. The Europeanization of party politics 3. The argument 4. Results 5. Discussion 6. Conclusions 7. Bibliography 1. INTRODUCTION This paper has two fundamental aims. The first is to analyze the introduction of European affairs into the 2011 Spanish election campaign. The second is to draw up a coding system of the programmatic proposals of the parties on the European integration process, the political system and EU public policies. This new classification scheme is complementary to the Manifesto Research Group/Comparative Manifestos Project/Manifesto Research on Political Representation (hereinafter referred to as the Manifesto Project) one. Its value resides in that it offers a wider range of categories concerning the EU for systematizing specific information about these affairs at an intermediate level of abstraction, which can be used in research designs from a comparative viewpoint and analyzed through both quantitative and qualitative techniques. 2

3 The materials used in the research are: a) data for this election from the Manifesto Project 1 ; b) election programs of the parties obtaining representation at the Congreso de los Diputados on 20-N (with the exception of Amaiur, whose program, according to the Manifesto data, contained no reference to the UE "issue"); c) articles about European policy published by the candidates of the PP (Mariano Rajoy) and of the PSOE (Alfredo P. Rubalcaba) in the Política Exterior magazine, interviews given by both these leaders to the El Pais newspaper published a few days before election day, their accounts in the twitter social network, and the transcription of the only face-to-face televised debate. The following table shows all the parties that obtained representation in Congress in the 2011 elections, with the voting percentage and number of seats obtained. TABLE 1.1: PARTIES REPRESENTED IN THE CONGRESO DE LOS DIPUTADOS Party Voting percentage Number of seats Partido Popular (PP) Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) Convergéncia i Unió (CiU) Izquierda Unida (IU) Amaiur Partido Nacionalista Vasco/Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea (PNV/EAJ) Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD) Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG) Coalición Canaria (CC) Compromís-Q Foro Asturias (FAC) Geroa Bai Total Source: prepared by the author from the results of the elections held on 20 November Accessible from: [Budge et al. (2001), Klingemann et al. (2006) and Volkens et al. (2012)]. 3

4 The technique used is that of content analysis, defined by Krippendorff as [A] research technique for formulating valid and reproducible inferences 2 from certain texts (or other significant material) in the contexts of their use (2004:18; op. cit. Alonso et al., 2012b: 14), and that differs from the interpretation of texts in everyday life due to its reliability and validity (Alonso et al., 2012b: 14). The structure of the text is as follows: the second part briefly locates this research in the literature on Europeanization of the parties and the electoral competition; the argument that relates this subject to the EU democratic deficit is developed in section three; the next part is dedicated to presenting the results; the discussion occupies section five; part six gives the conclusions; and the paper closes with the bibliography. 2. THE EUROPEANIZATION OF PARTY POLITICS Since the 90s, Europeanization is one of the main research agendas of the subdiscipline of European Studies. Its aim consists of analyzing both direct and indirect changes in the European governance caused by adjustment to the European integration process. The notion of Europeanization is somewhat complex. In the first place, because accommodation of belonging to the EU has a clear vertical dimension, but also the second horizontal dimension is less evident. 3 Furthermore, nothing is necessarily top-down in the domestic adjustment to regional European integration (Graziano and Vink, 2007:8). When only bearing in mind the vertical dimension of the concept of Europeanization, two different approaches can be used: a) the top-down approach that follows the sequence: 1. "Pressure" from "Europe" on the member states 2. Variable interveners 3. Reactions and changes at domestic level; and b) the bottom-up approach, that considers Europeanization as the dependent variable and places actors, problems, resources, style and speeches at domestic level at the beginning of the causal chain (Radaelli, 2006: 60). 4 2 Added emphasis. 3 In reference, Radaelli, one of the authors who has contributed most to consolidating this agenda, points out that: "The European Union can provide the context, the cognitive and normative framework, the terms of reference, or the opportunities for the socialization of domestic actors, that then produce `exchanges of ideas, power, policies, etc. (Radaelli, 2006: 62). 4 Please note that not even the top-down approach to Europeanization uses this as a synonym of convergence 4

5 In short, Europeanization only involves the inclusion of the internal policy in our comprehension of European integration (Radaelli, 2006:58). The adjustment to "Europe" of the parties and the party politics was late in joining the Europeanization research agenda (Carter et al., 2007; Ladrech, 2002; Mair, 2007). Ladrech (2002) put forward five areas of research for adapting national parties to the EU: 1) organizational change (including not only formal reforms but also informal adjustments in the practices and power relations inside the parties), 2) program and policy content, 3) patterns of party competition, 4) party/government relations and 5) relations beyond the national party system. In general, the first papers on this subject concentrated on the vertical and ascending dimension (bottom-up) of the adjustment on "Europe", and on only direct changes. Later on, direct effects began to be analyzed in the descending direction (top-down). Seminal studies of the effect of belonging to the EU in the parties and national party systems concluded that this was limited (Aylott et al., 2007; Ladrech, 2002 and 2007; Ramiro and Morales, 2007; Raunio, 2007); and basically analysed: 1) specialists presence and influence on European affairs in party organizations, and 2) the format and mechanisms of party systems (Mair, 2000: 36). It is obvious that the trend was to centralize party organizations since the sixties of the last century (Katz and Mair, 1995; Kirchheimer, 1996; Raunio, 2002; Farrell and Webb, 2000) and, in general, to presidentialize politics, favoured by the increasing role that the mass media play in the political scenario. This was reinforced because of the European integration process (Aylott et al., 2007; Ladrech, 2007; Raunio, 2002). As the majority of the large European parties are, from an organizational point of view, cartel-type parties and develop their functions in a context in which relations with the mass media are perceived as crucial in order to win and preserve power, leaders autonomy is very extensive, and allows them to control not only their party organizations but also the adjustment to "Europe" of party politics. or harmonization. In fact, the empirical evidence often corroborates the "differential" impact of the European integration on member states (Héritier et al., 2001; Graziano and Vink, 2007; Radaelli, 2006); the proximity or compatibility between the institutional configuration of the EU and those of different countries (this is what Hix and Goetz call closeness of fit) tends to be one of the most significant factors when explaining the differences in the accommodation processes to "Europe", or patterns of Europeanization (Hix and Goetz, 2000: 19). 5

6 Raunio's article in 2002 especially presents one of the first attempts of examining the effects of the EU in decision-making within national parties. This author upholds that the institutional configuration of the Union exogenously reinforces the concentration of power in the centre of the party organizations, which, as just stated, is an underlying trend. Raunio realizes how the impact of the EU on national party organizations has been formally limited. The parties have established EU commissions and named European secretaries; nominated candidates in European elections and appointed delegates in executive organs of the Euro parties. However, these changes are quite modest in their extent and do not alter the basic structure of party organization (Raunio, 2002: 406). Although, informally, the adjustment of party organizations to "Europe" could be far more significant (Raunio, 2002: 414). In general, the first papers on the adjustment to "Europe" of party organizations demonstrate that experts in European affairs do not gain centrality, but the power concentration process in the party elite is accelerated, at least in the case of government parties (Aylott et al., 2007: 208). Mair (2000, 2007) identified two significant indirect effects of the EU on national parties. Firstly, as a result of the delegation of competences in Union institutions, the reduction of the range of political instruments, the political argument and political space, that is to say, the area of competition between political forces with aspirations of government in national party systems. Secondly, in the area of the EU, the increase of immateriality of conventional policy. This second indirect effect, the depoliticising in the space of the Union, was confirmed by Ladrech (2007). Without a doubt the European integration process reduces the number of issues decided domestically, and necessarily with it the matters upon which national parties contrast their proposals and the alternatives offered to voters in internal competition. 5 This papers tries to provide a small contribution to the studies on the Europeanization of parties and party politics of member states, continuing with the examination of the indirect effects; but inverting the causal relation. If Mair (2000 and 2007) considered the increase of the European integration process was the independent 5 On the effect of monetary integration in Europe in the electoral competition Menéndez (2012) and Urquizu (2012) need to be consulted. 6

7 variable and the reduction of the area of party competition domestically or the depoliticising in the EU in general, the dependent variables, for us, political national parties are placed at the beginning of the causal chain. We analyze in particular the introduction of European issues by political parties in the 2011 Spanish election campaign as a determining factor of the democratic legitimacy of the EU. The expected relation is direct. 3. THE ARGUMENT During most of the European integration process, the good results of EU policies were sufficient to legitimise public decisions adopted at supra-state level. 6 However, the Euro crisis has put the fragility of the sources of legitimacy of origin (identity and democracy) of the EU on the table, and initiated the debate on its democratic deficit in the political agenda of some member states. Historically, the democratic deficit of the EU had an institutional dimension and another sociological one. The first was related to a form of investiture and the lack of accountability of the European Commission, the opaqueness of the meetings of the Council of Ministers, the weakness of the European Parliament and also of the Political Parties at European Level and the hollowing out of responsibilities of State Parliaments (central and regional ones of member states decentralized politically or with regions with legislative competence). The second dimension was related to the absence of a European demos (a political community at European level with collective identity), and also of a common public sphere. However, delving deeper into the integration from Maastricht to the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009 and later developments have very significantly improved the democratic credentials of the EU. The European Parliament is today an undoubtedly strong institution: under the ordinary legislative procedure, which 6 The legitimacy of the EU, as that of any other political democratic system, rests on three pillars: the results when satisfying the needs and values of citizens (efficiency); public control from a position of political equality (democracy); and a certain feeling of belonging to the political community (identity) (Lord and Beetham, 2001: 444). Legitimacy, according to the efficiency in answering social demands is known as legitimacy of result, and the axiological requirements and democratic procedures together with the identification of the political community are considered to be sources of legitimacy of origin (Scharpf, 1999). 7

8 apply to most matters, it co-legislates on an equal footing with the Council of Ministers; it has also gained power as a budgetary authority (shared equally with the Council); the appointment of the Commission President is determined by the result of elections to the European Parliament. Likewise, transparency of the meetings of the Council of Ministers has been guaranteed when acting as a legislative chamber. The European citizen s initiative has also been constitutionalized and developed legislatively. The Lisbon Treaty has in addition given power to the National Parliaments, fundamentally through the new early warning system for controlling the principle of subsidiarity. Even from the sociological point of view, the actual Euro crisis has caused the appearance of a public European embryonic sphere. However, if we consult Eurobarometer results, we can see how citizens from many member states (to different degrees and sometimes due to different reasons) support the project of European construction with less intensity. 7 In order to try to explain this paradox, we relate to the democratic legitimacy of the EU (effect) to the Europeanization of party politics (cause). If we understand democracy as political equality and civil capacity to influence and control public decisions, it is true that even today the EU, in spite of introducing institutional improvements and the emergence of a public space at European level, has a problem of democratic legitimacy. We mainly blame the persistence of this situation on the deficient treatment of European affairs by national parties; specifically, the shortage of political information (positioning, proposals, messages) on European integration, institutions and actors, and the public policies of the EU, which reduce citizens aptitude to influence supranational decisions, among others, through voting at national elections. 4. RESULTS The order of appearance of the research results is as follows: 1) presentation of the new classification scheme for party proposals in the European integration process, the 7 The difference, in November 2012, between the respondents who say they are rather in favour and who declare to be quite in opposition to the Union (in order of decreasing size of the changing trend from May 2007 to November 2012): 52 percentage points in Spain in November 2012 (as opposed to 42 in May 2007), - 22 in Italy (as opposed to 30), -29 in Germany (as opposed to 20), 6 in Poland (as opposed to 50), -49 in the United Kingdom (as opposed to-13) or -22 in France (as opposed to 10). [Information published in issue 8

9 political system and the public policies of the EU; 2) enlightenment of the evolution of the positions of Spanish parties regarding European issues using data from the Manifesto Project; 3) coding of proposals on EU affairs contained in the programs of the political party that obtained representation in the Spanish Parliament on 20-N; 4) coding of the proposals on these matters that were introduced in the election campaign by the Partido Popular (PP) and the Partido Socialista (PSOE) through the following communication channels: the Política Exterior magazine, the only televised debate between their candidates for the Presidency of the Government (M. Rajoy and Alfredo P. Rubalcaba), the accounts in twitter of both leaders and the El País newspaper. 4.1 The new classification scheme of party proposals on the European integration process, the political system and public policies of the EU We put forward a classification system for party proposals on EU affairs, which is complementary to the classification scheme of the Manifesto Project. The Manifesto Project scheme was created at the beginning of the decade of the eighties in the 20 th century to code the political preferences of parties through the analysis of content of their election programs at state level. It has been widely used for classifying units of analysis of heterogeneous political texts, including speeches or governmental statements dating back from the Second World War. 8 The method used for the Manifesto Project is not discussed. Undoubtedly, it has been, and continues to be, a success story (Alonso et al., 2012b: 8). Although, this paper does not exclusively examine the election programs but also other 20-N political texts, it even shares the theoretical assumption of the Manifesto Project in that the program is the only representative document of the position of a party in specific elections. If we study other texts, it is because not only are we interested in the positioning but also in the political messages and especially in the content of the proposals. We recognize the colossal contribution to the social sciences of the only database that allows rigorously comparing the ideological positions and political party preferences as number 4 ( Shock of democracies ) of the Europa booklet, edited in conjunction with the main newspaper headers of the six largest countries of the EU. This was published in the El País newspaper on 25 April 2013]. 8 Regarding the Manifesto Project method, besides the compulsory consultation of Budge et al. (2001), Klingemann et al. (2006) and Volkens et al. (2012), are indispensable: Alonso et al. (2012a and 2012b). 9

10 well as the electoral competition, including confronting countries of different world regions. In addition, the versatility of this information is valued very positively, which can be used to address complex research questions. In fact, we used data from the Manifesto Project in this piece of research. However, for the purpose of our study, i.e. the EU, the standard scheme of the Manifesto Project only provides measures of party positioning in favour and against; but no substantial data on the measures they put forward. Specifically, the Manifesto Project scheme for systematizing programmatic preferences concerning the political system, policy and politics highlight 56 categories, which classify governmental performance under 7 areas, i.e.: "External Relations, Freedom and Democracy, Political System, "Economy", Welfare and Quality of Life, Fabric of Society, and Social Groups. Two of the 56 categories, classified under area 1 External Relations, are linked with the EU; there are called: "European Community/European Union: positive and "European Community/European Union: negative. 9 It is possible to calculate, when using both categories together, not only the combined with salience position as the pure position with regard to the EU expressed in the programs. 10 The combined with salience position is calculated by reducing the percentage of category 110 to the percentage of category 108. The pure position is achieved by dividing the result of the above subtraction from the sum of the percentages of categories 108 and 110. The new classification scheme for coding party proposals concerning the EU that we create increases the number of categories for the systematical collection of data about these affairs at an intermediate level of abstraction. The data generated by using this tool serves 9 These categories are defined in the following way. Category 108, EC/EU: positive : "references favourable towards the European Union/Community in general. This can include: convenience of the adhesion of the country of the election program (or permanency as a member); convenience of an extension of the European Community/European Union; convenience of an increase in the competence of the Union and of the European Community; convenience of an extension of the competence of the European Parliament. Category 110: "EC/EU: negative : "negative references towards the European Community/European Union. This can include: opposition to certain European policies preferred by European authorities; opposition to the net contribution of the country of the election program to the EU budget. 10 The combined with salience position theoretically moves between the values of -100 [when the reference/s opposing a matter (in our case, the EU) occupy the whole program being examined] and +100 (when the reference/s in their favour complete the program). Meanwhile, the scale of pure position ranges, also hypothetically, between the values of -1 y

11 for the comparative research of electoral competition in the EU, not only at supranational but also at national level; and can be analyzed using both quantitative (raising the level of abstraction) and qualitative research techniques, depending on the research questions that are considered to be relevant for formulating every piece of research. Elaborating the new classification process was especially inductive, the fruit of the exercise of coding party proposals for the 2011 Spanish elections, initiated with a preliminary deductive classification scheme, which sustained notable variations in view of the data contained in the 12 programs we examined. Three dimensions of the concept European Union are distinguished, which are: European integration process, political system and public policies of the EU. Consequently, the classification scheme is structured upon three areas. 29 categories are differentiated as indicated in the following table. 11

12 TABLE 4.1: CLASSIFICATION OF PARTY PROPOSALS ON EU AFFAIRS Areas Area 1: INTEGRATION PROCESS Area 2: INSTITUTIONS AND ACTORS Area 4: PUBLIC POLICIES Categories 101 Widening 102 Deepening 103 Democratization 201 Multilevel Government 202 EU Institutions and Organs 203 Political Parties at European Level 204 Groups of Interest 205 Legitimacy 301 Financial Programming and Budget 302 Internal Market and Competition 303 Trade 304 Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro 305 Tax System 306 Social Affairs and Inclusion 307 Agriculture and Rural Development 308 Maritime Affairs and Fishing 309 Environment 310 Regional Policy 311 Space of Freedom, Security and Justice 312 Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy 313 Security and Defence Policy 314 International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Response to Crises 315 Education and Youth 316 Research and Innovation 317 Digital Agenda 318 Energy 319 Transport 320 Industry 321 Other Policies or Cross-Cutting Issues of Public Policies Source: prepared by the author. As in the Manifesto Project, the quasi-sentence (that is to say, a series of words that contain a sole argument) is the unit of analysis that is coded 11 ; and not only in the 11 A quasi-sentence is a phrase or part of a phrase (quasi-phrase) that expresses a sole general argument. It has to be used as a unit of code to the detriment of the isolated word (or symbol) when the research is not only interested in the frequency of appearance of certain terms in the texts, but especially in the positions maintained by an agent with regard to a matter and its justification. 12

13 decomposition procedure of the texts in quasi-phrases but also in the coding, the Manifesto Project rules are respected. These can be consulted at: 12 Therefore, in order to assign the proposals to one or other of the 29 categories of the new classification, the rules of the Volkens coding manual (2002) apply, of which we emphasize the two following ones due to the particular usefulness shown in coding the programmatic proposals of 20-N: 1) categories of the area entitled Public policies (objectives) have preference over the categories of Institutions and actors (means); 2) the most specific categories have priority over the most general ones (for example, in Integration process, category 103 "Democratization" has preference over category 102 "Deepening"). 4.2 Evolution of the position of Spanish parties on European affairs We give below a series of graphs showing the evolution of the position of Spanish parties concerning the EU from the adhesion of this country to the then European Community, in Data from the Manifesto Project has been used, specifically, the combined with salience position ("position", and not pure position ) stated in the programs of the parties that obtained parliamentary representation in at least two of the eight general elections held since then: in 1986, 1989, 1993, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and In order to draw up the first graph, we calculated the average "position" (combined with salience position) in the EU of the parties that obtained representation at each election. 12 The criteria for dividing the text into units of analysis is as follows: if there is a complete argument in a phrase, it is not divided; otherwise, it is divided into several quasi-phrases (every quasi-phrase must contain a complete argument). 13

14 GRAPH 4.1: EVOLUTION OF THE AGGREGATE POSITION ON THE EU OF SPANISH PARTIES Aggregate position Source: prepared by the author, using data from the Manifesto Project, accessible from: [Budge et al. (2001), Klingemann et al. (2006) and Volkens et al. (2012)]. This graph shows a clearly descending trend in the salience that Spanish political parties give to the EU as well as in their positioning in favour, which contrast with the deepening of the European integration process over these years. The second graph, however, illustrates the evolution of the "position" on European affairs of each party but examined individually. There is evidently a normal descending pattern; the position of the Spanish parties on the EU reaches its maximum in the 1989 elections for PSOE, IU, PNV and ERC, in those of 1996 for PP and CiU and in 2000 for CC. Only one party, the BNG, behaves differently: 1) it is the only one with a negative positioning in all the elections we studied; 2) their position improves on these matter in the 2004 and 2008 elections, but its positioning on the EU worsens again in the 2011 elections. 14

15 GRAPH 4.2: EVOLUTION OF THE POSITION ON THE EU OF SPANISH PARTIES Source: prepared by the author, using data from the Manifesto Project, accessible from: [Budge et al. (2001), Klingemann et al. (2006) and Volkens et al. (2012)]. Finally, we provide a graph for each party with expectations for leading the Government of Spain, PP and PSOE, in which, besides the combined with salience position, the percentages of references that are favourable and unfavourable of the European integration are given separately. In both cases, we can see how there is no increase in references unfavourable towards the EU, but only a loss of relevance of European affairs in the electoral competition, as opposed to the increasing number of public decisions that they adopt, together with their European counterparts, the Prime Minister who will be chosen indirectly from the results of these elections, as well as other members of his team. 15

16 GRAPH 4.3: EVOLUTION OF THE POSITION ON THE EU OF THE PP Unfavourable references Favourable references Position PP Source: prepared by the author, using data from the Manifesto Project, accessible from: [Budge et al. (2001), Klingemann et al. (2006) and Volkens et al. (2012)]. GRAPH 4.4: EVOLUTION OF THE POSITION ON THE EU OF THE PSOE Unfavourable references Favourable references Position PSOE Source: prepared by the author, using data from the Manifesto Project, accessible from: [Budge et al. (2001), Klingemann et al. (2006) and Volkens et al. (2012)]. 16

17 4.3 Programmatic proposals concerning the EU of the parties obtaining representation on 20-N In this section, we provide, coded by means of quasi-sentences, the programmatic proposals related to matters decided at EU supranational level of those parties that obtained representation in Congress in the 2011 general elections. Coding the programmatic proposals related to matters decided at EU supranational level means that those measures which concern adjusting political systems, politics and public policies to "Europe" at domestic level (in other words, the proposals concerning the "vertical" and top-down dimension of the Europeanization of the member states, in this case, Spain) are excluded 13 ; not analyzed in this section either are quasi-sentences that do not content a proposal, although they express a party position on a European issue 14. A criterion of ordination of the parties is the voting percentage (in descending order) and that of the proposals, the order of appearance of them in the programs and this is shown in following table. 13 Examples of paragraphs that contain electoral commitments that are not coded because they do not constitute programmatical proposals related to matters decided at EU supranational level, notwithstanding, although they are related to the EU, they refer to decisions that are adopted at state level (that is to say, they are adjustments that would be addressed using an approach of vertical and in a descending direction Europeanization: EU or supranational decisions would act as independent variables and the dependent variables would be the changes in the political system, the politics or national policies), in this case, of Spain: "We will boost measures that allow us to comply with the commitment, as stipulated in the European Union, of in 2020 (PP Program: page 13); or We will promote the increase of state support to student mobility programs, very specially the Erasmus program, in order to cover displacement and subsistence expenses of students at destination universities, in a dignified manner or To guarantee Catalonia with their own electoral circumscription at the European Parliament elections (CiU Program); or We demand a temporary development (of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Corridors) adjusted to the European forecasts and requirements (PNV Program: page 21); or To reinforce the unity of Spanish action in Europe, reforming the Joint Congress-Senate Commission for the EU (UPyD Program: page 45). 14 Examples of quasi-sentences that contain a positioning on a European matter, but not a proposal, and they are therefore not coded: "The redefinition of agricultural and fishing policies in the European Union provide us with a magnificent opportunity, more equitable socially speaking, because they are small agricultural developments, many of them in Natura Network areas, which benefit from a greener CAP, which recognizes the benefits that its preservation and custody contribute to the community (PSOE Program: page 30); or In the last few years, there are several different symptoms of collapse of the model, in the middle of an economic and political crisis that strikes the working class and implies a hollowing out of representative democracy by evidencing that key decisions are adopted by large fortunes, capable of destroying or refloating a currency, and European and world organisms that do not respond to any democratic legitimisation (IU Program: page 25); or European identity and governance do not oppose the Basque identity and governance. Quite the contrary (PNV Program: page 31). 17

18 TABLE 4.2: CODED PROGRAMMATIC PROPOSALS ON EU AFFAIRS (GENERAL ELECTION 2011) Agent Category Proposal/s PP Digital Agenda - Boost full development (page 52) PP Education and Youth - Backing the mobility of students, teachers and educators in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) (page 90) - Promoting a map of EHEA ratings providing transparency on acquired knowledge and employment (page 93) PP Regional Policy - Advancement of insularity and outermost regions (page 159) PP PP PP PP Space of Freedom, Security and Justice International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Response to Crises Security and Defence Policy Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - Enhancement of the safety space (page 182) - Strengthening European instruments for police and legal cooperation (page 187) - Construction of a common immigration policy and signing of agreements with third countries (page 198) - Consolidation of the Space of Freedom, Security and Justice, paying special attention to the fight against terrorism and organized crime (page 198) - Improvement of European consensus on development (page 208) - Boost the policy (pages 211-2) of the European defence agency (page 211) and for cooperation between the EU and NATO (page 212) - Greater economic coordination (page 198) - Improvement of governance criteria in the Eurozone (page 198) - Greater economic integration (page 198) - We will increase the general level of transparency (page 198) - Creation of an effective capacity for supervising and the common guarantee of deposits (page 198)/Advances towards authentic integrated supervision (page 199) - Strict observance of the stability and growth agreement (page 199) - Rescuing European banks (page 199) - We will regulate by-products and short-term sales (page 199) - Transparency in the relations between financial institutions and their clients (page 199) - Establishment of funds guaranteeing deposit at 18

19 PP Financial Programming and Budget European level (page 199) - Creation of a specific instrument to finance SMEs in the EU (page 199) - Sufficiency of Union resources (page 198) - Transitory period for regions that are beyond the convergence objective (page 198) - Sufficient assignment in R+D+I, education and infrastructure (page 198) - Balanced distribution of burdens bearing in mind relative wealth (page 199) PP Trade - Signing commercial and partner agreements with the Latin-American area of nations, as well as with allied countries (page 198) PP Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy - Boost Foreign Policy (pages 198-9) and the European External Action Service (page 198) - Attention to Mediterranean and Latin-American regions (page 199) PP Widening - We will support the integration of Croatia, the negotiations underway with Iceland and Turkey and, in time, with other countries recognized as candidates (page 198) PP Internal Market and Competition - Culmination of domestic market financial services (page 99) PP Energy - We will boost trans-european networks to guarantee energy sufficiency (page 199) PP Transport - We will boost trans-european networks to guarantee free movement of goods (page 199) PP PSOE PSOE PSOE Agriculture and Rural Development Agriculture and Rural Development Maritime Affairs and Fishing Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy - We will defend a strong Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), enjoying sufficient means for our agricultural and cattle sector (page 199) - Guarantee food safety of Europe (page 199) - We will defend a strong, simpler CAP, with sufficient financial assignation and set upon three basic instruments: revenue support, management of markets and rural development (page 32) - The Common Fishing Policy reform must be carried out based on the same principles as the CAP, taking into consideration the importance of supporting a strategic sector for food supply and the creation of wealth in coastal areas (page 33) - Foment Neighbourhood and Great Neighbourhood Policies in the frame of concerted action in Africa between the Governments of Spain and the Canary Islands, fomenting cooperation plans (page 48) - Unified presence of the EU in the most relevant international organizations (page 134) 19

20 PSOE PSOE Space of Freedom, Security and Justice Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - Greater responsibility, visibility and political dimension of the President of the European Council and the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (page 134) - Advances in the deployment and training of the European External Action Service (EEAS) (page 135) - Rigorous application by the EEAS of EU Human Rights Directives (page 141) - We will defend a thorough change in the Neighbourhood Policy for the Mediterranean, so that democracy and human rights take precedence over security efficiently (page 141) - Guarantee the free movement within the European area (page 109) - We will promote Schengen commitments for common foreign frontier control (page 109) - Reinforce the institutions of economic government (page 133) - Better coordination of economic policies (page 133) - Construction of an authentic economic union (page 133) - Flexibilization of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM); so that, besides structuring aid to countries undergoing financial difficulties, it funds investment and stimulus plans, to provide a solution not only for the debt problem, but also for the lack of economic growth required to create employment (page 134) - European Credit Rating Agency, which independently assesses the true state of the finances of member states (page 134) - Improvement in regulating private risk evaluation agencies, to increase European competition in this sector (page 134) - Extend the competence of the European Parliament in economic and financial sectors, with which we can gain efficiency, speed and margin of manoeuvre, besides democratic legitimacy (page 134) PSOE Tax System - Greater fiscal integration (page 133) - Own European Tax System drawn up with progressive criteria (page 133) - Tax on financial transactions, for the purpose of reducing speculation (page 133) - An imposition harmonized on CO 2 emissions, assisting the transition to a Europe without any CO 2 (page 133) - Establishment of a European Exchequer, a Finance Ministry whose duties include taking charge of 20

21 administering the funds obtained from European taxes and issuing European national debt (page 133) - Emission of Eurobonds. By doing so, the EU would obtain at least three objectives: reduce speculation in financial markets, obtain more funding and reduce the price of financing the EU (page 133) - Fiscal harmonisation. The EU needs greater capacity to avoid competition in fiscal affairs (page 134) PSOE Deepening - A true social Europe whose standards have the same force as those in a single market, through boosting a European Social Agreement and the safeguard of a sustainable welfare state (page 133) PSOE PSOE Financial Programming and Budget EU Institutions and Organs -We will not accept a budget reduction but we will defend extending it (page 133) - Reform the current direction of the EU budget so it addresses to a greater extent the fulfilment of the objectives marked by the strategy 2020 (page 133) - Place active policies for creating employment and training at the centre of the next financial perspectives (page 133) - Part of the funds collected from the proposed tax on financial transactions will be used to cooperate with the development and battle against climatic change (page 133) - More active role of the European Central Bank. It should enjoy new responsibilities and act in a decisive manner to favour EU growth and fight against unemployment. Extend its mandate (pages 133-4) - More active role of the European Investment Bank (page 133) PSOE Democratization - Adopting more democratic and transparent mechanisms for electing authorities at the head of European institutions, especially, the President of the Commission and the President of the European Council. Regarding the President of the European Council, we propose it should be the European Parliament that gives final approval for the candidate put forward by member states (page 134) PSOE Political Parties at European Level - We will take and active part, together with the forces of the European Socialist Party, in electing and presenting to European citizens, a male or female common candidate to the President of the European Commission, in the frame of the next European Parliament elections (page 134) PSOE Widening - Commitment for the adhesion of Turkey, which should take place as soon as possible (page 135) 21

22 PSOE Security and Defence Policy - To consolidate this, advancing towards a Europe of Defence, in coordination with NATO, integrating new strategic challenges for peace and security policies, including those associated with the environment and climatic change (page 144) CiU Tax System - European fiscal harmonization to consolidate the CiU CiU Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro Agriculture and Rural Development Eurozone (page 19) - Economic harmonization to consolidate the Eurozone, eliminating currently sustained imbalances (page 19) - Startup of the Eurobonds, which, together with fiscal consolidation, will help us to come out of the crisis (page 19) - Commitment with the Euro and financial stability of the Monetary Union (page 19) - Speed in covering regulation and supervision lagoons of financial markets (page 19) - The CAP will be as suitable as possible for the production characteristics of the Catalan agricultural and rural means giving content in the regulatory frame to the singularities of Mediterranean reality (page 29) - Regionalization of the CAP, so that regions have the capacity to make decisions in some aspects and increase management autonomy so they can adapt certain decisions to regional productive systems and enjoy more agile management (page 30) - Territorialize European aid and subsidies, transferring final endowments immediately to the Autonomous Communities (page 30) CiU Social Affairs and Inclusion - Maintenance of the level of the European food aid program for the most disadvantaged (page 76) CiU Environment - Increase the objective to reduce greenhouse effect gas emissions for member states, putting them at 30% instead of the initially foreseen 20% (page 89) CiU Research and Innovation - Distribution of European funds for Research and Innovation depending on the quality of the projects and the research capacity of the research systems and not following population criteria or those contrary to scientific interest (page 97) CiU Legitimacy - While taking advantage of reviewing the Treaties and Regulation of linguistic uses due to the integration of Croatia, we will boost incorporating Catalan as an official EU language (page 118) CiU Multilevel Government - Catalonia s own voice in the EU (page 118) - Direct participation of Catalonia in EU institutions, especially in affairs that hold exclusive competence (page 118) 22

23 CiU CiU Foreign policy and Neighbourhood policy International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Response to Crises - We will contribute towards analyzing legislative proposals of the Commission, not only for controlling the principle of subsidiarity but also in order to improve the quality of EU legislation and its application (page 118) - We will foment interinstitutional and interparliamentary relations concerning the control of the principle of subsidiarity (page 118) - The Mediterranean has to continue being one of its fundamental axes (page 119) - We will fight to create a Common Foreign Policy (page 119) - The EU will speak with a single voice at the United Nations (page 120) - We will increase international peace missions with the participation of the EU (page 120) - We will advance in the European Consensus of Humanitarian Aid: we will improve access to humanitarian aid for the victims of armed conflicts and natural disasters. We will work to comply with the right to food and to pass a new human rights plan (page 120) CiU Security and Defence Policy - We will continue to extend and reinforce the European Defence Agency (page 122) IU Tax System - Intervene in processing the future Directive on the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) to advance its entry into force on 1 January 2013 and so that the minimum tax rate is 0.1% for buying or selling bonds and shares and 0.05% for by-products, and include operations with currencies in the FTT (page 10) - Raise before European institutions changing Article 56 of the Treaty of Functioning to establish it as an exception at the start of free movement of capital, movements carried out between member states and the territories qualified as tax heavens (page 12) - Put forward that European institutions should lead negotiations with the different international Organizations of a political or financial nature to control and identify the true titleholders of these capital movements (page 12) - Eliminate the EUR 500 bank note (page 13) - Invoices paid in full or in part in cash or bearer documents over EUR 1,000 cannot be used as deductible expenses (page 13) IU Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - Complete change of the Euro Pact (page 17) - As a temporary measure, we will support proposals to increase the term for reducing the deficit to 3 % in

24 IU Agriculture and Rural Development (page 17) - New CAP capable of defending family agriculture, protecting the environment and curbing control of the agro-food chain by big companies (pages 31 and 68) - Take advantage of the CAP reform to reorientate the agricultural-farming model and that agricultural and food policies are established in the frame of food sovereignty (page 31) - The CAP must include instruments regulating the market that put an end to food speculation and the volatility of prices, and the abuse of power by the agro industry and great distribution (page 68) - Rejection of Agreements with Morocco and Mercosur (page 69) - Rejection for cutting the CAP back by 15% for (page 69) - Correction for cutting direct aid of the first pillar of the CAP (page 69) IU Education and Youth - Creation of European networks and centre of excellence (page 44) - Improvement of the European dimension of permanent learning with recognition of ratings and aptitudes (page 44) - Creation of European degrees, certificates and diplomas (page 44) - Establishment of minimum quality standards in education and training (page 44) IU IU Other Policies or Cross-Cutting Issues of Public Policies Space of Freedom, Security and Justice - Application of the principle of precaution in assessing all European programs, and especially those of Biotechnology, Environment and Energy (page 44) - Address immigration as a structural fact that transforms and enriches the host society, which involves the required development of a series of policies orientated towards active citizenship based on the principles of universality of human rights and interculturality (page 63) IU Digital Agenda - Total opposition against attempts for boosting closed software patents favouring the maintenance of monopolies and preventing sharing the benefits of research IU Foreign policy and Neighbourhood policy - Substantially changing the current EU Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy, which should be based on peace, disarmament, cooperation and international democratic relations (page 82) IU Deepening - Reinforce united European response in social, syndical and political affairs allowing us to enter into a new 24

25 PNV PNV PNV Multilevel Government Agriculture and Rural Development Maritime Affairs and Fishing European constitutional process for building a social Europe with rights and not a Europe at the service of markets (page 82) - Direct participation of autonomous communities in EU decision-making (page 10) - The CAP reform is a threat for our producers. We will continue working to obtain the best conditions for the agricultural, farming and associated transformation sectors (page 15) - The future European regulation for sustainable fishing is a threat. We will continue working to obtain the best conditions for the sector (page 15) PNV Education and Youth - Quotas for young people to take part in the most relevant research and technological innovation projects financed by the EU (page 17) PNV Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - Greater supervision of financial institutions by the European Central Bank and the Commission (page 23) - Creation of a Ministry of Economy at European level, with the resources and suitable instruments of economic policy, that manages resources from the European Financial Stability Facility (page 30) - Resources must be sufficient to guarantee paying the debt of those countries requiring aid (page 30) - Creation of Eurobonds with a European debt rating to finance the deficit of various countries, reducing the cost of indebtedness of the countries that pay an enormous differential in relation to the German debt (page 30) - The European Central Bank must provide financial institutions with the liquidity they need so they can grant loans to families and companies (page 30) PNV Energy - Form an energy mix that is less dependent upon the exterior (page 27) - Common European energy market PNV Tax System - European tax on financial transactions, whenever first and foremost, this involves movements of capital of a speculative nature and its cost is not transferred to the basic daily operations of citizenship and small enterprises (page 25) PNV Deepening - Extension of the concept of European governance to other basic policies for our development, such as the foreign, energy and social policies (page 31) PNV PNV Foreign policy and Neighbourhood policy International Cooperation, - Strengthen the foreign policy and the European diplomatic service (page 31) - Give this priority (page 31) 25

26 UPyD Humanitarian Aid and Response to Crises Economic and Monetary Affairs and - Promote the improvement of the framework of regulation and supervision of the European financial system (page 12) Euro UPyD Tax System - Common European fiscal policy that complements the single currency (pages 14 and 45) - Creation of a EU Exchequer capable of intervening efficiently in the monetary policy and in funding crises (page 45) UPyD Agriculture and Rural Development - CAP reform that defends agriculture according to a series of criteria concerning direct payments, such as: the possibility of linking them to the number of workers per farm and not per hectare (re-defining the concept of the active farmer ), a compulsory ecological component, a minimum for small farmers, etc. (page 20) - CAP market measures will reinforce the position of the farmer in the food chain, through a series of dispositions such as: a European standard that controls the power of large distributors, the promotion of self-management organizations in small and medium developments, concretion of the notion of food stock to guarantee food safety, price trigger most related to real markets, etc. (page 20) - Support and reinforcement of rural areas through: aid measures for young farmers, ease for the exchange of good practices, the development of an efficient and competitive agricultural sector that contributes to sustainable development; etc. (pages 20 and 21) UPyD Education and Youth - Boosting the European dimension of education which is closely connected to training in values, attitudes and competence associated with European citizenship (page 21) UPyD Space of Freedom, Security and Justice - Put in place a united European legal system for immigration. Meanwhile, synchronize different national legislations, assuring cooperation between member states (page 29) - Transfer the management of citizenship and immigration policies to the EU through a European Immigration Service implementing policies for integration and common visas (page 29) - Improve the battle against illegal immigration mafias, reinforcement of cooperation between European institutions dedicated to fighting against organized crime, such as EUROPOL or INTERPOL, reducing the 26

27 lack of coordination between member states (page 29) - Common migratory policy, re-establishing the regulation of the Schengen area, cancelling the exceptions of some member states, and with a European Card for the rights of community immigrants (page 45) - More equitable distribution between member states of immigration control costs at the entrance doors to the EU (page 45) - Network of reception centres for irregular immigrants in all European regions (page 45) - Increase of EU treaties with third countries regarding immigration, contemplating aspects including the regulation of migratory flows (page 45) - A Green Card system that allows citizens from third countries to hold a joint EU residence and employment permit (page 46). UPyD Democratization - Reinforcement of the European Parliament, with the election and control of the President of the European Council (page 45) - Greater means for the European Judiciary to favour their independence (page 45) - Open lists for electing Members of the European Parliament (page 45) UPyD Research and - The European R+D+I policy will gradually substitute UPyD UPyD Innovation Foreign policy and Neighbourhood policy Security and Defence Policy national programs of member states (page 45) - Common foreign policy, unifying the representation of EU countries at international organisms; a single international communicator (page 45) - Establishment of a binding agreement for all EU members to reciprocally defend their foreign borders and their territorial integrity (page 46) UPyD Widening - Establishment of the obligation of all EU members to protect and respect their interior borders and the territorial integrity of member states, including the recognition of not altering borders in secession or unilateral independence processes (page 46) - Immediate EU expulsion of any territory that segregates or freely becomes unilaterally independent from any member state (page 46) ERC Widening - Defence and application of the secession rights of states in the frame of European federalism. Catalonia will be a new EU member state (page 5 and others) ERC Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - Influence the monetary policy applied by the European Central Bank (page 17) ERC Other Policies or - Active participation in defining the strategies and 27

28 Cross-Cutting Issues of Public Policies tourist policies by the European Commission, so that the Lisbon Treaty recognizes tourism for the first time as a European policy (page 26) ERC Legitimacy - Recognition of Catalan as an official EU language (pages 153 and 174) and the incorporation of Occitan as a working language (page 174) ERC Foreign policy and Neighbourhood policy - Barcelona, the capital of the euro-mediterranean policy (page 169) - We will help to advance the Neighbourhood Policy in the Mediterranean basin (page 169) ERC Multilevel Government - The Delegation of the Government of the Generalitat will assume a determinant role in defence and promotion of the interests and aspirations of Catalonia before European institutions (page 169) ERC Deepening - A federal Europe, especially in the areas of the Tax ERC ERC BNG BNG International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Response to Crises Agriculture and Rural Development Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro Internal Market and Competition System, foreign and defence policies (page 172) - As a EU member state, Catalonia will be involved and contribute experience in peace missions and boost the pacific resolution of conflicts, promoting democracy, the defence of human rights and equality (page 172) - Catalonia will be represented in the EU with the right to speak in debate and to vote for Agriculture (page 177) - Links of the monetary policy to democratic institutions, addressing the conversion of the current status of independence of the ECB (page 8) - The priority objective of the monetary policy will be the economic stability and creation of employment (page 8) - Cancellation of the Stability Pact, giving way to the application of other governing criteria concerning the economic policy based on supporting productive investment through economic promotion of strategic sectors, peoples right to production, the guarantee of social policies, as well as the promotion of economic, social and territorial redistribution (page 8) - Strict supervision of entities and agencies in the financial sector (page 8) - Emission of Eurobonds, with direct support from the ECB to the funding needs of the States, without involving any additional transfers of sovereignty or competence to community institutions (page 8) - Derogation of community standards and directives that gave way to the economic liberalization in essential sectors and favoured consolidating the domineering position of private oligopolies controlled by 28

29 transnational corporations (page 8) - Boosting fair regulation of financial transactions (page 8) BNG Industry - Boosting the opening of a negotiating process in the EU to check 2004 agreements (that limit till 2015 the activity of the Fene shipyard to auxiliary jobs of the Navantia-Ferrol shipyard) so that the Fene shipyard can fully develop its production in naval civil construction (page 21) - Guarantee the necessary financial support for the naval sector in Galicia, which allows undertaking new projects and attracting international orders (page 21) - Request that the EU allows the tax lease while the process started by the Commission is not solved with regard to its application in Spain; and to solve this process without suspending the tax lease, contemplating the strategic nature of the naval sector (page 21) BNG BNG Agriculture and Rural Development Maritime Affairs and Fishing - Maintenance of the mechanisms of public intervention in agricultural markets that are efficient in smoothing price oscillations (page 22) - Standards that improve the regulation of the milk price reference, and extended to other food products, so that production costs are born in mind and the transparency is guaranteed in forming prices that eradicate speculative profit (page 22) - Consideration that Galicia is a region that is highly dependent on fishing (page 22) - Treatment differentiated for coastal fishing and shellfishing (page 22) - Modification of the principle of relative stability; replacing the system for totally permitted catches and quotas for others that, by ensuring the stability of resources, bears in mind the historical rights of Galicia and her fishing efforts (page 22) - Renovation or subscription of fishing agreements with third countries to support the weight of the Galician fleet, having the opinion that Galicia is binding when agreements affect employment and maintenance of productive potential (page 22) BNG Digital Agenda - Promotion of a European regulation protecting software not based on granting patents, but on the intellectual property law, along the lines of what was agreed by the European Parliament concerning the Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (page 23) 29

30 BNG CC CC CC CC Multilevel Government Agriculture and Rural Development Other Policies or Cross-Cutting Issues of Public Policies Space of Freedom, Security and Justice Financial Programming and Budget - EU presence of Galicia according to the legal - political recognition of the nations integrating the Spanish State (page 31) - Treatment differentiating the ultraperipheral regions (UPRs) before future CAP reforms. For example, the design of specific rural development policies for UPRs or flexibilization of applying European directives on state aid to the agricultural and forestry sectors (page 38) - Adapting Europeans policies to the reality of ultraperipheral regions (page 74) - An integral strategy to address the migratory phenomenon, based on solidarity between the states, and in the co-responsibility of the different levels, regional, state and European, including the reinforcement of cooperation with countries of origin (page 74) - Measures to arrange migratory flows and to favour the integration of legal immigrants (page 74) - Efficient measures to fight against irregular immigration (page 74) - Achieve within the Multiannual Financial Framework: support the objective of convergence and competitiveness, as well as the Outermost Region Fund at the same current amount (35 EUR/inhab.); so that the objective of territorial cooperation is reinforced; include the Canary Islands in the new intermediate category in its capacity as an outermost region irrespective of its GDP, maintenance of the 85% co-financing rate and the possibility of continuing to apply the menu of priorities susceptible of European co-financing for the convergence objective (page 75) CC Deepening - Greater common, political governance, which includes not only the economy but also the environmental policy, and that for security or the foreign policy (page 88) CC Compromís- Q Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro Agriculture and Rural Development - Increase the financial capacity and flexibility of the use of the European recovery fund (page 88) - Include economic sustainable development in the objectives of the ECB (page 88) - European Rating Agency (page 88) - A Eurobond market must be created at this time (page 88) - Priority defence of the interests of the Valencian agricultural sector in negotiating and applying the new CAP, foreseen for the period on signing agreements with third countries and in areas of the WTO (page 20) 30

31 Compromís- Q Compromís- Q Compromís- Q Compromís- Q Compromís- Q Foro Asturias Foro Asturias Foro Asturias Foro Asturias Foro Asturias Space of Freedom, Security and Justice International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Response to Crises Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro Trade Internal Market and Competition Agriculture and Rural Development Maritime Affairs and Fishing Energy Tax System Foreign policy and Neighbourhood - Common migratory policy, and common criteria for controlling borders, the battle against mafia networks that deal with people, etc. (page 55) - Contribution to resolving the problem of small immigration boats, through agreements regarding entrance from African countries (page 55) - Forcefulness in demanding African countries to recognize and repatriate people arriving in an irregular manner (page 55) - Intensify quantitatively and qualitatively the cooperation for development with African countries of origin of the irregular immigrants (page 55) - Economic Rating Agency within Europe (page 68) - Obligation for EU members receiving economic aid, besides practising fiscal discipline, to adopt measures of structural growth in the medium and long term (page 68) - Defence of national industrial products (Valencian or Spanish) against unfair competition of extra-eu products, promoting the relevant European legislation (greater control of pernicious and harmful consumer products, those made by children or quasi slavery, those causing pollution when manufactured, etc.) and concerned that this is put into practice (page 75) - Promotion of mobility of workers (page 102) - CAP reform that recognizes the singularities of the agricultural activity in Spain (page 30) - Establishment of a spatial regime for non-industrial fishing, from both a management and financial point of view (page 32) - Development of the single energy market, which requires the approval and construction of more electricity and gas interconnections with France making access to Central European markets possible (page 38) - Increase international connections that allow greater competition and safety for supplying energy (page 39) - Harmonizing certain aspects for regulating Corporation Tax (page 47) - Fight against the existence of tax heavens in European territory (page 47) - Design and start-up of a transparent fiscal policy (page 87) - Strengthening (page 87) - Greater role of Spain in relations with Latin-American 31

32 Foro Asturias Geroa Bai policy countries (page 88) Transport - Incorporation of the Cantabrian Corridor within the planned Trans-European Corridors (page 103) Multilevel - Direct presence of Navarre in European institutions in Government defence of exclusive competence and identity (pages 10 and 12) Geroa Bai Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - European Rating Agency which addresses public interest (page 17) - Reform of the ECB so that money can be loaned directly to the states to finance their debt (page 17) - Change the interest rate that the ECB charges banks, so it continues to be 1% only for funds used to increase company credit, including SMEs and the self-employed. Increasing the rate significantly for funds that banks use to purchase public debt (page 17) Geroa Bai Regional Policy - Boost Euro regions; create and boost the Navarre- Geroa Bai Agriculture and Rural Development Basque-Aquitaine Euro region (page 20) - Active participation of Navarre in European forums which set the main lines of agricultural policies (page 38) Geroa Bai Deepening - Boost the political process for a united Europe as a factor of greater equilibrium, justice and peace in the world (page 44) Source: prepared by the author. 4.4 Proposals on European issues introduced by the Partido Popular (PP) and the Partido Socialista (PSOE) through other communication channels In this section we provide the results from examining the introduction of European issues on 20-N by both political forces with aspirations of leading the Government of Spain, PP and PSOE, through various communication channels, in the following order: specialized articles signed by their candidates for Presidency, televised face-to-face debate between their leaders, their accounts in the twitter social network and their interviews in the El País newspaper published a few days before the election. The following table shows the proposals concerning the EU as contained in the articles published by Mariano Rajoy and Alfredo P. Rubalcaba in issue number 144 of volume 25, for November/December 2011, of the Política Exterior magazine. The article signed by the candidate of the PP for the Presidency of the Government is entitled Mi visión de Europa y España en el mundo [My vision of Europe and Spain in 32

33 the world], and it covers pages 40 to 47 of the issue. The contribution made by the candidate of the PSOE is entitled of Política exterior para tiempos de crisis [Foreign policy in times of crisis], and covers pages 48 to 56. The value of the analysis of the content of these texts lies in the fact that they set a specific position and also priorities on these affairs. TABLE 4.3: CODED PROPOSALS OF THE ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY M. RAJOY AND A. P. RUBALCABA IN THE POLÍTICA EXTERIOR MAGAZINE Agent Category Proposal/s M. Rajoy Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - Greater economic integration (page 42) - Strict observance of the Stability and Growth Pact (page 42) - Rescuing European banks (page 42) - Integration of bank supervision (page 42) M. Rajoy Internal Market and Competition - Culmination of internal market financial services (page 42) M. Rajoy Financial Programming and Budget - With a view to the negotiation of financial perspectives: sufficiency of resources of the Union; reasonable transitional period for Spanish regions beyond the convergence objective; and incorporation of a specific instrument of funding SMEs, main sources of creating employment (page 42) M. Rajoy Transport - Fomenting trans-european networks (page 42) M. Rajoy Agriculture and Rural - Maintenance of a strong CAP to defend our agricultural Development M. Rajoy Space of Freedom, Security and Justice M. Rajoy Foreign policy and Neighbourhood policy and cattle sector (page 42) - Consolidation, especially concerning the battle against terrorism and organized crime (page 43) - Advance towards a common immigration policy for better management of migratory flows (page 43) - United and active common foreign policy (page 43) - Common foreign policy that duly attends the most important areas for Spain, such as Latin America (page 43), Morocco or Algeria (page 44) - Special relations with the USA, as the most important strategic partner of the EU (page 43) - Review of the European Neighbourhood Policy that gives priority to the advances in the democracy processes in southern shore countries of the Mediterranean (page 44) - Notable role of Spain in strengthening Euro- Mediterranean relations (page 44) - The EU must help to advance in peace negotiations in the Middle East, and be active in the Quartet (USA, EU, 33

34 M. Rajoy International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Response to Crises M. Rajoy Security and Defence Policy A. P. Rubalcaba A. P. Rubalcaba A. P. Rubalcaba Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro United Nations and Russia) (page 45) - Intensify EU activity in international organizations such as United Nations - and the new frames of conciliation such AS G-20- (page 46) - Close coordination between the EU and USA regarding objectives and aid strategies for development (page 44) - The objectives of the Millennium Development form a fundamental roadmap (page 45) - Not to curtail efforts in Africa regarding cooperation for development (page 45) -Boost, using new dispositions and perspectives opened by the Lisbon Treaty (page 46) - Better cooperation between the EU and NATO (page 46) - Complete monetary union with an economic and financial union (page 52) - Reduction of interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB) (page 52) - Ultimately reaffirming the lender's role of the ECB (page 52) - Urgent recapitalization of European banking (page 52) - Consolidating a mechanism for resolving bankruptcies, both financial and national (page 52) - Eurobonds to assist funding everyone s debt (page 52) - Greater intervention of the ECB for funding the sovereign debt (page 52) - Configuration of an economic government through more regular meetings of the Heads of State and Governments of Euro countries (page 52) Tax System - A European Exchequer, in the long term (page 52) - Creation of a European Ministry of Finance, with the capacity to supervise and even intervene in national accounts. Meanwhile, a European commissioner should take charge of this task (page 52) - Tax on international financial transactions, paid into the European Exchequer (page 52) - Fiscal union (page 52) Foreign policy and Neighbourhood policy - The strategic and global support plan of the EU for an Association for Democracy and Joint Prosperity joined by countries from the Arab world as they seriously enter transition processes towards democracy must be staggered and adapted to every situation, ending up by creating a democratic block in the region. This should contribute to a reformed Union for the Mediterranean (page 54) - The EU, in the frame of efforts by the Quartet (USA, EU, United Nations and Russia) must help to boost an initiative within a reasonable term that ultimately, 34

35 pacifically and constructively reaches a long peace process in the Middle East based on two States, which should accompany the Palestinian claim at the UN (pages 54 and 55) Source: prepared by the author. We comment below on the political information on European affairs introduced by the candidates of the PP and the PSOE through the only televised debate of the campaign, held on 7 November. This face-to-face debate was structured on three blocks: 1) economy and employment (20 minutes for each candidate); 2) social policy (15 minutes for each); 3) democratic quality, Spain s position worldwide and politics in general (10 minutes for each contender) 15, preceded by a general two-minute intervention by each candidate, concluded by closing without any references to the rival party lasting three minutes for each candidate. We can see how the PP candidate insists on one of his main campaign messages: the importance of doing homework at home ; but pointing out the programmatic proposals of his party regarding the EU. The socialist candidate, on his part, took advantage of informing about some measures of an economic nature, which are coded in the following table. TABLE 4.4: CODED PROPOSALS INTRODUCED BY M. RAJOY AND A. P. RUBALCABA IN THE ONLY TELEVISED DEBATE Agent Category Proposal/s M. Rajoy None None A. P. Rubalcaba Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - Two-year delay, until 2015, for adjusting the deficit in Spain - Decreasing interest rates by the European Central Bank - With EUR 70,000 million, the European Investment Bank has to undertake a huge investment plan, which would be like a European Marshall Plan for which SMEs can compete. Source: prepared by the author. 15 The minutes consumed by each rival were counted, including interrupting the other candidate. 35

36 Next, the table below gives the proposals outlined by the Partido Popular (PP) and the Partido Socialista (PSOE), through the twitter accounts of their candidates for the Presidency of the Government, Mariano Rajoy and Alfredo P. Rubalcaba. 16 As we are interested in the introduction of European issues in the campaign through this social network, when examining the tweets, the replies to other network users are not taken into account. If we were to do this, we would collect redundant information, the same as we obtained when analyzing the content of the PP and PSOE programs. This is because the campaign teams respond to the tweets reproducing content from the election program. We examined tweets up to 18 November, the day the 20-N campaign closed, inclusive. The order of presentation of the affairs in the table is temporary for introducing the first proposal on the matter through this social network, starting with the winning candidate, M. Rajoy. TABLE 4.5: CODED PROPOSALS PUBLISHED IN THE TWITTER ACCOUNTS OF M. RAJOY AND A. P. RUBALCABA Agent Category Proposal/s M. Rajoy Agriculture and Rural Development - We promise not to support the CAP reform proposal (14 October) A.P. Rubalcaba Agriculture and Rural Development - We will defend a restrictive CAP (10 October) - Rejection of the CAP reform (14 and 25 October, 16 A.P. Rubalcaba Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro Source: prepared by the author. November) - Reduction of interest rates from the European Central Bank (ECB) (11 October; 7, 9 and 15 November) - Eurobonds (11 October; 15 and 17 November) - Common economic policy (13 October) - Strengthening the ECB (26 October) - Bank recapitalization (28 October) - Delay the deficit adjustment till 2015 (7 November) - European Marshall Plan (7, 9 and 14 November) 16 As an anecdote, on 26 November 2011, the day when we collected and recorded this information, the PP candidate had 143,616 followers in this social network, and the socialist candidate, 83,

37 Other information of interest for the studying purposes of this piece of research was obtained from examining the twitter account of M. Rajoy as follows: a) on 29 October, this political message was published: "I do not want to be in Europe in the gang of blunderbusses, I want Spain to be with the best ; b) in the same sense, regarding the faceto-face debate with Rubalcaba, he twittered this sentence: "Spain is the 4 th country in the Eurozone and must have a more important role than it has now ; and c) 14 on November, the link was made available for the article published in the Política Exterior magazine Mi visión de Europa y España en el mundo [My vision of Europe and Spain in the world]. In the same way, in the account of the PSOE candidate, A. P. Rubalcaba, we find the following information of benefit: a) the message that the solution to the crisis is in Europe [on 9 October he wrote: "We claim unity to Europe to be stronger, to generate employment, we must all join together at all levels /for the candidate s visit to Strasbourg, on 25 October, he twittered: "Today Rubalcaba visits the European Parliament in Strasbourg and will be meeting the progressive alliance of socialists and democrats or Europe can continue summoning a meeting to self organize herself for another one or we can advance decisively, confronting the problems ; on 9 November he wrote: "If we have learned something in the EU about this crisis it is that either we all come out of it together or we are going to have a very bad time ]; and b) these concerns promptly defending the management of the previous socialist government, of which the candidate was an outstanding member: "The Minister of Development, José Blanco, has managed to include five Spanish corridors in the Trans-European Transport network (19 October)/ It is evident that the intervention of the Spanish government in 2010 took us out of the tense financial limelight (Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy) (14 November). Finally, we mention the proposals that the candidates introduce in their responses to the interviews granted to the El País newspaper. The interview of the PP candidate was published on 16 November; whereas the interview with the socialist candidate saw light two days later, on the 18th. The value is to observe whether the main political messages of the PP and PSOE campaigns include any that refer to European affairs. An ingenuous reader might think that the responses to the interviews are determined by the questions; but, in actual fact the candidates use this opportunity to address the very extensive number of voters, including 37

38 the country s political analysts just a few days before election day to ratify their header messages. The PP candidate does not even introduce one single proposal on decisions that will be adopted in the future at supranational level (a job for which, among others, Spanish representatives are indirectly chosen at the general elections). On the other hand, they do take advantage of multiple questions at the interview to concentrate attention on the message about commitment of austerity: "I have the firm and unbreakable commitment to comply with our commitments of permanency in the single currency. The socialist candidate, however, did mention some programmatic proposals in the economic sector, which are coded in the following table. TABLE 4.6: CODED PROPOSALS CONTAINED IN THE INTERVIEWS GIVEN TO THE EL PAÍS NEWSPAPER BY M. RAJOY AND A. P. RUBALCABA Agent Category Proposal/s M. Rajoy None None A. P. Rubalcaba Economic and Monetary Affairs and Euro - Common economic policy - Efforts by the European Investment Bank to back public investment in countries with difficulties to fund investments - Greater intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB) to solve the debt crisis - Reduction of interest rates by the ECB - Extension from two to four years of the pace for adjusting the deficit Source: prepared by the author. 5. DISCUSSION The results from analyzing the content of the various different political texts show, in the first place, how in contrast to the continuous deepening of the European integration process and the increasing number of public decisions adopted at EU supranational level (among others, by Prime Ministers and Ministers of national Governments), every time Spanish political parties pay less attention to European affairs in general election campaigns. 38

39 The combined with salience position on the EU of the various parties represented in the Spanish Parliament reached its maximum in the 1989 elections (5.2), and has not stopped descending since then until reaching 0.9 in the 2011 elections. The coding of the election proposals using the new classification scheme allows the following: to identify priorities on EU affairs for every party individually or as a group; and compare the party proposals by category, valuing the hypothetical reduction of the electoral competition. As predictable in a crisis context, in the 20-N campaign, the most important EU issues for the parties that obtained seats in Congress were those related to economic and financial affairs, as shown in the graph below. GRAPH 5.1: MOST RELEVANT EU AFFAIRS IN SPANISH ELECTION 2011 Agriculture and rural development Tax system Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy Economic and monetary affairs and Euro Others Space of Freedom, Security and Justice Source: prepared by the author 39

40 Almost one of every three programmatic proposals (29%) concerns economic affairs including Tax System (categories 304 and 305); in the context of a new reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, 11% of the measures refers to Agriculture and Rural Development; and 10% and 9% respectively to domestic and foreign policy. In view of the content of the proposals of the 12 parties we studied, we can confirm that in the 20-N elections, the EU was very far from being a dimension of electoral competition. All the Spanish parties, except the BNG, are in favour of entering deeper into European integration; the only reference opposing more Europe in the group of programmatic proposals can be found on page 8 of the BNG program, where they propose Eurobonds with the following undertone without implying additional transfers of sovereignty or competences to community institutions. Our information also proves something we already suspected: the position on the EU in the Manifesto Project could give rise to misinterpretations, as it does not differentiate the references contrary to certain decisions on public policies about references opposing European integration. The most evident example we find is from the IU program, a party with a combined with salience position in these elections, as in the four earlier ones (since 1996), negative (-0.8 in 2011), and committed in their 20-N program to go to a new European constitution process that constructs a social Europe (page 82). Based on our classification, it is really quite easy to compare party proposals, and to verify that the proposals on EU affairs are a reflexion of their political preferences in the traditional dimensions of competition in Spanish general elections: left-right and centreperiphery. All non-state parties in Catalonia, Galicia, Navarre and the Basque Country (CiU, ERC, BNG, PNV and Geroa Bai), irrespective of their position in the left-right scale, make very similar proposals in category 201 Multilevel Government. None of the other parties gives their opinion on these issues. The narrowing of competition is manifest. The proximity of the proposals of all the political forces is highly significant, not only with regard to the economy, but also to the rest of European issues, as can be seen by category when consulting the information provided in the above paragraph. 40

41 When concentrating on the comparison of the PP and the PSOE, the only undertone between their major proposals on the EU is the greater relevance that the PSOE gives to fiscal reforms and to a more active role of supranational institutions in the economic governance of the Eurozone. The following graphs represent the importance of the different EU affairs for each of these two parties using the coded programmatic proposals. GRAPH 5.2: DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAMMATIC PROPOSALS ON EU AFFAIRS - PARTIDO POPULAR (PP) Regional policy Agriculture and 3% rural development 6% Space of Freedom, Security and Justice 12% Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy 9% Digital agenda 3% Energy 3% Economic and monetary affairs and Euro 32% Others 18% Education and youth 6% Transport 3% Trade 3% Single market and competence 3% Widening 3% Financial programming and budget 11% International cooperation, humanitarian aid and response to crises 3% Source: prepared by the author. 41

42 GRAPH 5.3: DISTRIBUTION OF PROGRAMMATIC PROPOSALS ON EU AFFAIRS - PARTIDO SOCIALISTA (PSOE) Economic and monetary affairs and Euro 20% Financial programming and budget 12% Tax system 17% Political parties at European level 3% EU institutions and organs 6% Others 33% Widening 3% Democratization 3% Space of Freedom, Security and Justice 6% Maritime affairs and fishing Deepening 3% 3% Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy 18% Security and Defence Policy 3% Agriculture and rural development 3% Source: prepared by the author As a product of the information contained in the programs, and extending it with that obtained when examining other material, we can verify how, when not only interested in the positioning but also in the content of the proposals, the election program is not the only text to be born in mind, as the parties present measures throughout the campaign that they do not mention in the programs. In this case, for example, as we expected, there are proposals in the articles signed by both candidates, M. Rajoy and A. P. Rubalcaba, in the Política Exterior magazine that do not appear in the PP and PSOE programs. The category entitled Foreign Policy and Neighbourhood Policy is far more detailed in both cases in the specific articles issued later 42