Abstract
The European Union (EU) is once again in the midst of a storm. The ongoing economic crisis, the migration crisis and the Brexit have reopened debates and provoked tensions on the nature and “raison d’être” of European integration. These crises, combined with the current context of democratic malaise, provide fertile ground for the success of radical, populist and Eurosceptic parties, especially during the 2014 EP elections. As such, this opposition to the European project is far from new, and Eurosceptics have constituted a persistent minority in the EP for more than 40 years. But limited attention has been devoted to Euroscepticism within the supranational chamber. This introductory chapter explains why it matters to analyse Eurosceptic MEPs and their strategies. It also sets out the research design followed in the book and presents the data and the methodology.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Benedetto, G. (2008). Explaining the failure of Euroscepticism in the European parliament. In P. Taggart & A. Szczerbiak (Eds.), Opposing Europe? The comparative party politics of Euroscepticism (pp. 127–150). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Berger, S. (1979). Politics and antipolitics in Western Europe in the seventies. Daedalus, 27–50.
Brack, N. (2013). Euroscepticism at the supranational level: The case of the ‘untidy right’ in the European parliament. Journal of Common Market Studies, 51(1), 85–104.
Brack, N., & Costa, O. (2012). Euroscepticism within EU institutions: Diverging views of Europe. London: Routledge.
Brack, N., & Startin, N. (2015). Euroscepticism: From the margins to the mainstream. International Political Science Review, 36(3), 239–249.
Costa, O. (2001). Le Parlement européen, assemblée délibérante. Brussels: Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles.
Dahl, R. (1966). Political oppositions in Western democracies. New Haven: Yale University Press.
De Wilde, P. (2010). Under what conditions does Euroscepticism flourish? An evaluation of different approaches and empirical findings. Oslo: Trial Lecture.
Diez Medrano, J. (2012). The limits of European integration. Journal of European Integration, 34(2), 191–204.
Flood, C. (2002a). Euroscepticism: A problematic concept. Communication for the UACES 32nd annual conference and 7th research conference. Belfast: Queen’s University.
Flood, C. (2002b). The challenge of Euroscepticism. In J. Gower (Ed.), The European Union handbook (pp. 73–84). London: Fitzroy Dearborn.
Fossum, J. E. (2015). Competing European stories? Integration, disintegration and accommodation. Paper Presented at the CES Conference, Paris.
Harmsen, R. (2005). L’Europe et les partis politiques nationaux: les leçons d’un non-clivage. Revue internationale de politique comparée, 12(1), 77–94.
Hix, S., Noury, A., & Roland, G. (2007). Democratic politics in the European parliament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hobolt, S. (2015). The 2014 European elections: Divided in unity? Journal of Common Market Studies, 53(S1), 6–21.
Hobolt, S. B., & De Vries, C. (2016). Turning against the union? The impact of the crisis on the Eurosceptic vote in the 2014 European parliament elections. Electoral Studies, 44, 504–514.
Hooghe, L., & Marks, G. (1997). The making of a polity: The Struggle over European integration. European Integration Online Papers, 1/004.
Hooghe, L., & Marks, G. (2007). Sources of Euroscepticism. Acta Politica, 42(2–3), 119–127.
Jensen, C., & Spoon, J.-J. (2010). Thinking locally, acting supranationally: Niche party behavior in the European parliament. European Journal of Political Research, 4(2), 174–201.
Katz, R. (2008). Euroscepticism in parliament: A comparative analysis of the European parliament and national parliaments. In P. Taggart & A. Szczerbiak (Eds.), Opposing Europe? The comparative party politics of Euroscepticism: Volume 2 (pp. 151–180). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kreppel, A. (2012). The normalization of the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy, 19(5), 635–645.
Leconte, C. (2010). Understanding Euroscepticism. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Lynch, P., Whitaker, R., & Loomes, G. (2012). The UK Independence Party: Understanding a niche party’s strategy, candidates and supporters. Parliamentary Affairs, 65(4), 733–757.
Magnette, P., & Papadopoulos, Y. (2008). On the politicization of the European consociation: A middle-way between Hix and Bartolini (p. C0801). Eurogov: European Governance Papers.
Mair, P. (2007). Political opposition and the European Union. Government and Opposition, 42(1), 1–17.
Mény, Y. (2012). Conclusion: A voyage to the unknown. Journal of Common Market Studies, 50(S1), 154–164.
Mudde, C. (2011). Sussex v. North Carolina: The comparative study of party-based Euroscepticism. SEI Working Paper, 121, 1–32.
Neunreither, K. (1998). Governance without opposition: The case of the European Union. Government and Opposition, 33(4), 435–438.
Otjes, S., & van Der Veer, H. (2016). The Eurozone crisis and the European parliament’s changing lines of conflict. European Union Politics, 17(2), 242–261.
Sartori, G. (1966). Opposition and control problems and Prospects. Government and Opposition, 1(1), 149–154.
Schmidt, V. (2015). The Eurozone Crisis of Democratic Legitimacy: Can the EU Rebuild Public Trust and Support for European Economic Integration? Discussion paper 015.
Searing, D. (1994). Westminster’s world understanding political roles. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Searing, D. (2012). Foreword. In M. Blomgren & O. Rozenberg (Eds.), Parliamentary roles in modern legislatures (pp. xxi–xxvii). London: Routledge.
Strøm, K. (1997). Rules, reasons and routines: Legislative roles in parliamentary democracies. In W. C. Müller & T. Saalfeld (Eds.), Members of parliament in Western Europe: Roles and behaviour (pp. 155–174). London: Frank Cass.
Strøm, K. (2012). Roles as strategies: Towards a logic of legislative behavior. In M. Blomgren & O. Rozenberg (Eds.), Parliamentary roles in modern legislatures (pp. 85–100). London: Routlege/ECPR studies in European Political Science.
Szczerbiak, A., & Taggart, P. (2008). Opposing Europe? The comparative party politics of Euroscepticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Taggart, P. (1998). A touchstone of dissent: Euroscepticism in contemporary western political systems. European Journal of Political Research, 33(3), 363–388.
Taggart, P., & Szczerbiak, A. (2013). Coming in from the cold? Euroscepticism, government participation and party positions on Europe. Journal of Common Market Studies, 51(1), 17–37.
Trenz, H.-J., & De Wilde, P. (2009). Denouncing European integration, Euroscepticism as reactive identity formation. Arena Working Paper, 14.
Usherwood, S. (2016). The UK referendum’s impact on British and European euroscepticism. Paper presented at the conference ‘Euroscepticism and the Eurocrisis’, ULB, Brussels, 1 December 2016.
Usherwood, S., & Startin, N. (2013). Euroscepticism as a persistent phenomenon. Journal of Common Market Studies, 51(1), 1–16.
Whitaker, R., & Lynch, P. (2014). Understanding the formation and actions of eurosceptic groups in the European parliament: Pragmatism, principles and publicity. Government and Opposition, 49(2), 232–263.
Young, A. R. (2016). An inflection point in European Union studies? Journal of European Public Policy, 23(8), 1109–1117.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brack, N. (2018). Introduction. In: Opposing Europe in the European Parliament. Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60201-5_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60201-5_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60199-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-60201-5
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)