Marriages of Convenience, Conviction and Respectability: Explaining Radical Right Eurosceptic Alliances in the European Parliament

Why do we find radical right Eurosceptic parties in several different groups in the European Parliament? Despite holding apparently similar positions on key issues, these parties are currently spread over three separate parliamentary groups: the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) and Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF). Moreover, while some parties have advocated the creation of a large radical right Eurosceptic group, others have openly refused to contemplate the possibility of alliances with one another. This paper reports the results of a research project that explains the logics underpinning these three alliances. It does so using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches, featuring elite interviews with key figures from 11 radical right Eurosceptic parties in addition to extensive survey and party data. We find that there are three distinct types of alliance strategy in play: marriages of convenience (where the goal is to create a group in order to secure resources); marriages of conviction (where policy proximity and the desire to create lasting collaboration dominates) and marriages of respectability (where the aim is to secure greater national-level acceptance as a legitimate mainstream partner). We conclude that, while there is some scope for greater collaboration between radical right parties, the above logics are likely to ensure the EP does not see the creation of a single large radical right group in the foreseeable future.