The Shrinking Political Space of Minority Nationalist Parties in an Enlarged Europe of the Regions

From the late 1980s, European integration has been seen to have benefits for minority nationalist parties in terms of setting the political agenda, reinforcing the role of regional governments and providing second-order electoral opportunities at European elections. However, recent EU enlargements have produced a negative environment for minority nationalist parties, evident in the loss of support and MEPs in the 2004 European election. This article examines the development of minority nationalist parties at the European level since 1979, and evaluates different potential explanations for the demise of the party family since 2004.