How transparent and democratic was the drafting process behind each Euromanifesto?

For the past few months, The Good Lobby has been tracking how the different European political parties were drafting their manifestos, highlighting relevant processes and opportunities for civil society to influence the agenda of each different Europarty. 

Most Europarties have now adopted their respective manifestos ahead of the 2024 EU elections, and The Good Lobby has evaluated each document to check how transparent and democratic was the drafting process behind each Euromanifesto.

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)

Your Europe, Your Freedom: Delivering Change for You

Adopted: 21 March 2024, ALDE Party’s Extraordinary Congress, Brussels

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Orange

Manifesto

The European Greens

Courage to Change

Adopted: 4 February 2024, 7th Extended EGP Congress, Lyon

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Green

Manifesto

The Party of European Socialists PES

The Europe We Want: Social, Democratic, Sustainable

Adopted: 2 March 2024, PES Election Congress, Rome 

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Orange

Manifesto

The European Free Alliance EFA

A Europe for All

Adopted: 14 October 2023, EFA Congress, Strasbourg

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Orange

Manifesto

The European Democratic Party EDP

The European Democratic Party EDP**

Reinventing Europe

Adopted: 8 March, EDP Convention, Florence

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Orange

Manifesto

The Party of the European Left PEL

European Elections 2024 Manifesto     

Adopted: 24 February, The Left General Assembly, Ljubljana

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Orange

Manifesto

The European People’s Party EPP

Our Europe, a safe and good home for the people

Adopted: 7 March, EPP Congress, Bucharest

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Orange

Manifesto

The European Conservatives and Reformists Party ECR

The Benedictine Vision: A Charter for Conservative Values

Adopted: 21 March, ECR event, Subiaco

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Red

Manifesto

Identity and Democracy Party ID

No manifesto expected

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Red

European Christian Political Movement ECMP

Elevate, Empower, Engage

Adopted: 8 December 2023, ECMP General Assembly, Brussels

• Civil society in manifesto ranking: Orange

Manifesto

To what extent is public & civil society participation in EU decision-making processes reflected in each Europarties’ manifesto?

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Learn more about The Good Lobby’s work on the EU Elections

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MORE ON EU elections

The Good Lobby unveiled how civil society organisations, citizens movements and individual citizens could contribute to the Europarties’ election manifestos. This work has been featured in the Politico EU Influence newsletter highlighting the growing need for input to these manifestos as “Parties are soliciting new ideas earlier and with greater intensity than ever”!

In the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections, Europarties have begun adopting their electoral programmes, also known as “Euromanifestos”. 

It is important to note that these manifestos have evolved from mere documents to potential avenues for long-term influence. They act as the parties’ wish lists for shaping the work program of the next Commission. This makes them potentially significant not just for influencing the Commission and Parliament but also the Council. Moreover, Europarties are also feeling the pressure to be more visible to the average voter.

Yet the process behind these programmatic documents has historically been opaque, hindering civil society’s ability to understand and prepare for future election cycles. Hence our effort at popularising and demystifying the complex processes behind the preparation of political manifestos.

We did this by first unpacking the various opportunities, be they formal or informal, open or closed-door, offered by the Europarties themselves. Second, we offered a set of recommendations on how to find inroads into Euromanifestos even when the preparation of these did not explicitly foresee opportunities for external input. Ultimately, to ensure Europarties’ adherence to EU values – as enshrined in all Europarties’ Charters – requires an understanding of the processes through which they prepare for the next EP elections.

What were the key opportunities to contribute

The table below identified the key opportunities to contribute to different election manifestos. The traffic light colours indicated the level of openness of each individual Europarty vis-à-vis third party input, with a gradient from red (no formal process nor accessibility), amber (some process, some accessibility) to green (formal process and formalised opportunities to contribute).

Why are manifestos so invisible and inaccessible?

There are many reasons for the historical reluctance of Europarties to allow for external input in the preparation of their manifestos. First, EU-wide elections are still the domain of national parties, who select their candidates, draft their national programmes, at the domestic level. Second, the Europarties themselves are ‘parties of parties’ that do not compete for the votes of the whole European electorate, but only of their national electorates. Third, only a few Europarties follow a transnational and structured process leading to the definition of a pan-EU political manifesto.

This might however be changing. If the German, Polish, Romanian and other national party members of the same Europarty – be they the Greens, EPP, or Liberals – share similar political priorities, then a programme can be proposed across the EU transcending national borders of the individual member countries. In other words, when the policy agendas of the national parties grouping in the same Europarty can be successfully aggregated, Europarties may suddenly offer coherent and competing electoral programmes to the European citizens.

However, being typically untransparent and obscure to most civil society organisations and citizens who are outside of party circles, the preparation of manifestos risks remaining impenetrable. Hence our interest in mapping out and understanding the various processes to not only make them more visible, inclusive and potentially accountable to the greater public, but also to allow civil society organisations and citizens to be better prepared for future election cycles.

Watch this space

The Good Lobby intends to provide further guidance in the coming months on how civil society organisations, citizen movements and individuals may engage with Europarties ahead of the next European Parliament elections. Watch this space for more information in the coming weeks!

Methodology

This applied research work was prepared by Professor Alberto Alemanno with the support of The Good Lobby team. It relies upon dozens of interviews with political parties’ representatives, and academics as well as desk research and relevant academic literature.

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