Europe’s social democratic parties face a dilemma in how they react to increasing EU integration

To an outside observer, the Eurozone crisis and the public’s dissatisfaction with austerity policies should be beneficial for Europe’s social democratic parties. So why are so many currently consigned to opposition? Using an analysis of speechmaking across three of Europe’s social democratic parties, Isabelle Guinaudeau argues that the process of European integration has been a cause of division. While some parties, such as the UK’s Labour party have actively moved towards the political centre and embraced EU integration, others such as France’s Parti Socialiste have been far less successful in depoliticising the European issue.