This project investigates whether the formation of the European Union (EU) has stimulated the formation of separatist movements and parties within European countries. The economic integration brought by the EU is viewed as advantageous to the economic interests of some regions within European countries (but detrimental to others) and may have motivated the formation of regional/separatist political parties, as a result.
This study examines whether the effect of EU economic integration on separatism is overstated. Regional threats to secede often lack credibility because regions face major obstacles gaining EU membership after declaring independence. Moreover, the interaction of regional parties at the EU level offers little material advantages to regional/separatist parties. And, national governments still serve important functions in countries despite integration.
The study hypothesizes that the effect of EU integration on separatism is conditional on the characteristics of regions (e.g., economic development ? GDP, employment, size) and parties within these regions (e.g., left-right and position toward EU membership). These conditions identify those regions and regional/separatist parties that are more likely to support EU integration and, thus, to use integration to advance their goal of independence, as well as those regions most likely to gain entrance to the EU upon declaring independence. Preliminary analysis suggests that the effect is indeed overstated both in terms of substantive and statistical significance.
This study expands the widely used Constituency-Level Elections (CLE) dataset to increase the number of countries and time periods covered. The expanded dataset provides complete coverage of all post-WWII national elections in Western and Eastern Europe for all parties (votes and seats) at the constituency-level of government. The study also extends existing work on European regional parties by systematically distinguishing among regional parties based on their ideologies (e.g., left-right, EU integration), goals (e.g. autonomy and separatism) and strategies (e.g., violence).
The study has implications beyond Europe. Efforts at continental economic integration elsewhere are likely to face regional/separatism challenges, too. An understanding of these implications for Europe will allow us to anticipate these challenges elsewhere and serve as the basis for a more comprehensive account of regional separatism throughout the world.
