Europarties & the Unused Potential of Cross-Party Partnership
While the European Union (EU) is overloaded by multiple crises, the upcoming Georgian election is still in the spotlight of international attention. One should not overestimate either Georgia's strategic importance for Europe or its symbolic significance. Still, Georgia deserves the interest as a test-case of the EU's soft power in the region, which – with few exceptions among post-Soviet countries – has not opted for subordination to a former metropolitan state and/or full-fledged authoritarianism.
This interest towards Georgia has many realizations, and among other things is actualized by European political parties, also known as Europarties. Four major Europarties have their affiliated members in Georgia, although their degree of engagement varies. Cross-party cooperation of Georgian and European political parties is dominated by pragmatic reasoning. For Georgian parties these include enhancing legitimacy, visibility and credibility at the national level, while external support may also be used as protection vis-à-vis ruling elites. The ideological dimension also plays a role, though due to the ideological fussiness of Georgian politics, it is often of less relevance.
As the parliamentary elections rapidly approach, all possible means for enhancing the visibility and attractiveness of political parties are in demand, and partnership with Europarties should be seen mainly from this perspective. It is important to understand to what extent partnership with major Europarties may influence the outcomes of the Georgia's election.
The European People's Party (EPP) will certainly support its sister party - United National Movement (UNM), though respective motivation is divided between the intention to support the Georgian case and the responsibility to promote the interests of its sister-party. There is speculation that if the UNM does not fare well in this year’s election, EPP support may further decline, early signs of which are already discernible.
Another important Europarty – the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) has a newly affiliated member –Georgian Dream (GD). However, the conceptual approach of the S&D to its international cross-party relations and engagement with its member parties is less intense. Additionally, as Georgian Dream is a new member of S&D, from the European side there is more observation and less direct support. Finally, GD compared to UNM lacks the same quality of strategic communication with European political allies.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) has two affiliated parties – the Free Democrats and the Republican Party of Georgia. ALDE possesses relatively modest institutional resources at its disposal and this certainly affects its degree of direct support of sister parties and its overall influence. Furthermore, with two different Georgian partners it is difficult to strike a balance and ALDE is cautious in its actions.
Cooperation between the European Conservative and Reformist party (ECR) and the Conservative Party of Georgia is even less actualized. The Georgian party has been a junior coalition partner of Georgian Dream, which has a different affiliation. This illustrates well how cross-party relations become influenced by domestic factors.
There is also some potential for political partnership between the European Greens and the Georgian political groups, although for the time being the Georgian Greens are not yet up to serious political challenges. MEPs from the European Greens have strongly supported Georgia's European aspirations, although after the passing of prime-minister Zurab Zhvania back in 2005, relations have markedly shrunk.
Engaging in cross-party cooperation offers important yet insufficiently used opportunities. Such cooperation not only contributes to the development of domestic political parties but also plays a huge role in constructing the country's international image, and in mobilizing international support for it. However, today's cross-party partnerships are rather embryonic and largely depend on leaders’ personalities instead of ideological affinities. Frequently, immediate political goals get priority over long-term party development, refining ideological framework, introducing internal democracy and effective party management, building capacity for strategic communication, and last but not least, in promoting Europeanization.
It is also of utmost importance that Georgian political parties not just start thinking and planning with a long-term perspective, but choose to prioritize and pursue the overall policy goals of the country rather than party interests or those of respective political families, going here beyond any content-deficient populist rhetoric. However, this is hardly enough, unless not only the Europarties but also the European political foundations and think tanks work closely with their respective Georgian political partners, assisting them to effectively frame strategic cross-party cooperation formats.
It seems highly probable that as the Georgian political scene becomes more competitive, democratic, and less dependent on the leaders’ personalities, partnership with Europarties will be playing an increasingly important role both in party politics and the general Europeanization process of Georgia. It remains to be seen whether Georgian politicians understand the huge potential of such engagement and appear able to use it for both serving the interests of the country and developing the capacity and democratic credentials of their respective parties.
By Teona Lavrelashvili
Teona Lavrelashvili holds a Master's degree from the College of Europe and another from Speyer University of Public Administration. Before joining the Martens Center, she worked in the European Parliament as well as at the International School of Protocol & Diplomacy in Brussels. While focusing on European politics, she maintains close contacts with the political and civic community in Georgia.