European Parliament’s Political Groups in Turbulent Times

Petra Ahrens is Senior Researcher in the Faculty of Social Science, Tampere University, Finland.Anna Elomäki is Senior Researcher in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Finland.Johanna Kantola is Professor of Gender Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Finland.

• 1. Introduction: European Parliament's Political Groups in Turbulent Times.- 2. Negotiating Power and Democracy in Political Groups Formation in the European Parliament.- 3. The Political Groups as Organisations: The Institutionalisation of Transnational Party Politics.- 4. Democratic Practices and Political Dynamics of Intra-Group Policy Formation in the European Parliament.- 5. Eurosceptic Contestation and Legislative Behaviour in the European Parliament.- 6. When Words Do Not Follow Deeds: An Analysis of Party Competition between Centre-Right and Eurosceptic Radical-Right Parties in the European Parliament?.- 7. How Do Eurosceptics Wage Opposition in the European Parliament? Patterns of Behaviour in the 8th Legislature.- 8. Shaping the EU's Future? Europarties, European Parliament's Political Groups and the Conference on the Future of Europe.- 9. (Disap)pointing in the Mirror: The European Parliament's Obligations to Protect EU Basic Values in Member States and at EU Level.- 10. Parliamentary Politics and Polarisation around Gender: Tackling Inequalities in Political Groups in the European Parliament.- 11. 'Ethno, Ethno, What?': Using Ethnography to Explore the European Parliament's Political Groups in Turbulent Times.- 12. Turbulent Times for the European Parliament's Political Groups? Lessons on Continuity and Change.

“The European Parliament’s Political Groups in Turbulent Times is the most recent work in the emerging studies of the European Parliament (EP) under the pressure of the post-2008 decade of crises. … as acknowledged by Ahrens, Elomäki and Kantola, all chapters could be expanded into new research with further empirical data. … The authors seem to be in a particularly good position to go in-depth with such a matter.” (Catarina Silva, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, February 15, 2023)“Ahrens et al.’s volume paints a complete picture by accounting also for the informal nature of EP politics. … The chapters in this book demonstrate the importance of informal interactions, networking and norms of procedure inside and between groups to capturefully what goes on inside the EP. … Ahrens et al.’s book is ultimately more than a study of EP institutional processes and politics. … The book covers new ground also concerning the activities of Eurosceptics, especially on the right.” (Angelos Chryssogelos, Journal of European Integration, March 27, 2022)