This book examines how the Left is affected by European integration. It starts from the rejection of the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands in 2005, in which left-wing parties played key roles. The book explores the level of pro- and anti-EU sentiment among left-wing parties. It discusses the left’s reaction to the EU’s neo-liberal policies such as Laval, the Lisbon Agenda and the Bolkestein Directive. It examines the extent to which parties are Europeanised or remain nationally-oriented. The book looks at parties from all three left-wing families -social democrats, left-socialists, and left-greens. It contains case-studies of eleven EU member states, and also examines the left in the European Parliament. It provides a unique cross-national, cross-party evaluation of contemporary events.
