Från EU-motstånd till ompositionering : En studie av Miljöpartiet och Sverigedemokraterna genom Sjöbloms tre arenor

This study examines how two historically Eurosceptic Swedish parties, Miljöpartiet and Sverigedemokraterna, have reformulated their EU positions from Sweden’s accession in 1995 to the present. The aim is to develop a deeper understanding of when, how, and why these party lines have changed by analysing their positions through Gunnar Sjöblom’s model of party strategies in multiparty systems. The study employs a qualitative comparative case study design and conducts a theoretically guided qualitative content analysis of party programmes, parliamentary election manifestos, and European Parliament election manifestos across selected election years. The empirical material is coded and interpreted using Sjöblom’s three arenas, the internal arena, the voter arena, and the parliamentary arena, as the central analytical categories. The findings indicate that, in both parties, EU related positioning is closely tied to ideological self understanding and party unity, which helps explain why change tends to be gradual and is often framed as continuity rather than rupture. Miljöpartiet’s trajectory is characterised by a stepwise shift from principled system critique toward a more reform oriented and pragmatic stance, where the EU is increasingly presented as an instrument for advancing core party objectives, particularly in climate policy and human rights. Sverigedemokraterna, by contrast, display greater stability in their Eurosceptic core position, but with a strategic reframing over time, from a clearer exit orientation toward a selective reform agenda and an emphasis on intergovernmental cooperation, while later documents also signal the use of withdrawal as leverage. Overall, the study shows how the repositioning of Eurosceptic parties can be understood as strategic trade offs between internal legitimacy demands, voter oriented calculations, and parliamentary opportunities for influence in a political context where EU politics has become progressively more embedded in Swedish party competition.