Preferring Europe: Ideology and national preferences on European integration

Abstract:

This article takes issue with conventional explanations of state preference formation on European integration. It tests the hypothesis that Left-Right ideology is a better predictor than nationality of party views on integration, then tests the relationship between government ideology and government position on several dozen proposals considered during the intergovernmental conference leading up to the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997. It finds no significant relationship between nationality and preferences on integration, posing a challenge for liberal, functional and historical theories of state preference formation. However, there appears to be a significant and robust relationship between party ideology (and the resulting ideology of governments) and their preferences regarding integration generally, and the Amsterdam negotiations specifically.

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