Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

EU-nited or Divided? A Mixed-Methods Study of Swedish Party Coordination in EU Environmental Policy

Angyal, Kincsö LU (2025) STVM25 20251
Department of Political Science
Abstract
This thesis investigates how Swedish parliamentary parties coordinate their positions on environmental legislation across the national and European levels using the 2023 revision of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a case study. The study is guided by the Principal-Agent (PA) theory and addresses two research questions: (1) to what extent parties maintain alignment of policy positions between the Swedish Parliament and the European Parliament (EP) in the case of ETS; and (2) what control mechanisms are used to ensure consistency. A mixed-methods approach is applied, combining qualitative content analysis of parliamentary and EP debates with semi-structured interviews with political party staff. The findings indicate... (More)
This thesis investigates how Swedish parliamentary parties coordinate their positions on environmental legislation across the national and European levels using the 2023 revision of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a case study. The study is guided by the Principal-Agent (PA) theory and addresses two research questions: (1) to what extent parties maintain alignment of policy positions between the Swedish Parliament and the European Parliament (EP) in the case of ETS; and (2) what control mechanisms are used to ensure consistency. A mixed-methods approach is applied, combining qualitative content analysis of parliamentary and EP debates with semi-structured interviews with political party staff. The findings indicate that all studied parties demonstrate only partial alignment between their national and EU-level positions. While there was a general supporting stance towards the ETS reform across the studied parties, divergences in tone, emphasis, and framing were frequent. Interviews revealed that coordination is primarily based on informal, trust-based mechanisms rather than formalised procedures or systematic oversight. The study contributes to ongoing debates about democratic accountability in the EU’s multilevel governance system by highlighting patterns in the behaviour of Swedish parties within the context of climate policy. Highlighting the risk of agency loss, limited transparency and weak national oversight over EP activity, the findings raise questions about the representative role of national parties in a multigovernmental setting. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Angyal, Kincsö LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVM25 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
party coordination, principal agent theory, EU environmental policy, multilevel governance, Emission Trading System
language
Swedish
id
9189591
date added to LUP
2025-08-08 11:32:04
date last changed
2025-08-08 11:32:04
@misc{9189591,
  abstract     = {{This thesis investigates how Swedish parliamentary parties coordinate their positions on environmental legislation across the national and European levels using the 2023 revision of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a case study. The study is guided by the Principal-Agent (PA) theory and addresses two research questions: (1) to what extent parties maintain alignment of policy positions between the Swedish Parliament and the European Parliament (EP) in the case of ETS; and (2) what control mechanisms are used to ensure consistency. A mixed-methods approach is applied, combining qualitative content analysis of parliamentary and EP debates with semi-structured interviews with political party staff. The findings indicate that all studied parties demonstrate only partial alignment between their national and EU-level positions. While there was a general supporting stance towards the ETS reform across the studied parties, divergences in tone, emphasis, and framing were frequent. Interviews revealed that coordination is primarily based on informal, trust-based mechanisms rather than formalised procedures or systematic oversight. The study contributes to ongoing debates about democratic accountability in the EU’s multilevel governance system by highlighting patterns in the behaviour of Swedish parties within the context of climate policy. Highlighting the risk of agency loss, limited transparency and weak national oversight over EP activity, the findings raise questions about the representative role of national parties in a multigovernmental setting.}},
  author       = {{Angyal, Kincsö}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{EU-nited or Divided? A Mixed-Methods Study of Swedish Party Coordination in EU Environmental Policy}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}