The panel brings together scholars working on the politicization of Europe. While the burgeoning politicization literature provides evidence for politicization, empirical work also indicates that there is neither a single uniform process of politicization, nor is there a clear trend over time. Rather, European integration should be interpreted as a strategic opportunity for political actors, political parties in particular, to mobilize citizens. Such opportunities to politicize European issues became increasingly common with the intensification of the integration process after the mid-1980s and in the context of the current Euro crisis, but they already existed in the 1970s and they have been exploited not only by radical challengers but also by mainstream parties on several occasions. The result is what can be labelled as punctuated politicization, characterized by significant variation over time, across countries and political arenas. The panel will advance our understanding of these variations by bringing together scholars who work on factors responsible for the strategic choices of actors to politicize or depoliticize Europe. We will pay particular attention to the role of public opinion, intra-party conflict and political campaign dynamics for the choice of politicization strategies.