“Europeanisation, Social-democracy and the French Polity: Lessons from the Jospin Government”

Cole, Alistair. (1999) “Europeanisation, Social-democracy and the French Polity: Lessons from the Jospin Government”. In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 1999 (6th), June 2-5, 1999, pages 29, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Abstract

The paper addresses themes of continuity, change and adaptation in European policy under the Jospin administration. We begin the paper by situating the Jospin government in relation to the separate legacies of national context, party traditions and policy styles. We then consider the impact of social-democratic political agendas on European policy formulation. We appraise the impact of ‘Europeanisation’ upon internal political processes, and assess how well the French polity is equipped to deal with the new challenges it faces. We conclude that, while prominent features of ‘Europeanisation’ go against the grain of the traditional model of French politics and policies, the Jospin government has embraced Europeanisation as a project of government whose prime objective is to modernise French democracy.