The formation of the European Union creates a political condition that requires political to parties consider two levels of political competition: domestic politics and EU-level politics. For most parties EU-level politics are a secondary concern for political parties. As a result, EU policies have received little attention in domestic political competition. However, with deepening European integration, EU-level politics have emerged as a potential issue in domestic political competition. As part of their efforts to win votes and seats, parties must decide whether to develop a position on EU-level politics, or to remain focused on their domestic political platform. While the salience of EU-level politics is low across most European states, its importance does vary from country to country. This dissertation project attempts to answer several questions concerning the relationship between EU-level politics and domestic political competition. First, how do debates about the European Union manifest in domestic politics? Second, how does nationalism influence how EU policies are discussed in domestic politics?

In order to explore these questions this dissertation expands on our understanding of how fringe parties use nationalism to influence the salience of EU-level policies in domestic political competition. It argues that differences in nationalism influence the types of EU policies that fringe, anti-EU parties can argue as a threat to the national group in a way to increase their votes. In turn, the efforts of these fringe parties influence what EU policies become salient in domestic political competition and also influence the attitudes of political parties toward EU polices. In order to develop this argument this dissertation first develops a method for determining types of nationalism for EU states ranging from inclusionary civic nationalism to exclusionary ethnic nationalism. It then argues that considering the EU as multiple issue areas as opposed to a single issue allows for a stronger understanding of party positions toward EU-level policies.

In order to determine the salience of EU policies for political parties as well as their attitudes toward those policies this project moves beyond party manifesto data by collecting party statements posted on official party webpages in campaign period before the 2014 European Parliamentary elections for parties in Sweden, Germany, Estonia, and Poland. It then codes the documents for any statements concerning EU political, economic, or social policies. The dissertation then uses a descriptive and statistical analysis at both the state-level and party-level of analysis in order to test the influence that different types of national have on variation in the salience of EU-level policies across Europe. The results demonstrate that nationalism does influence the discussion of EU-level politics in domestic political competition. They also support evidence that there is party cohesion among parties in European party families concerning party attitudes toward EU political, economic, and social policies.