Do the Groups in the European Parliament Really Form a Party System?

In the second chapter, Davide Denti analyses whether the political groups in the EP form a party system. Having examined whether these party groups can be considered political parties and, subsequently, whether they do form a party system, the Author concludes that development of a moderate pluralistic party system may enable a further evolution of the political system of the EU in analogy with the domestic model of parliamentary democracies, thus fostering the democratic legitimacy of the Union. Yet this development faces challenges such as sub-system dominance by national parties.