Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform (''Eurorealism'', ''Eurocritical'', or '' soft Euroscepticism''), to those who oppose EU membership and see the EU as unreformable (''anti-European Unionism'', ''anti-EUism'', or '' hard Euroscepticism''). The opposite of Euroscepticism is known as '' pro-Europeanism'', or ''European Unionism''.
The main drivers of Euroscepticism have been beliefs that integration undermines national sovereignty and the nation state,''Euroscepticism or Europhobia: Voice vs Exit?''
Jacques Delors Institute
The Jacques Delors Institute (french: Institut Jacques Delors), which also uses the name ''Notre Europe'' (French for "Our Europe"), is an independent think tank based in Paris. Founded in 1996 by Jacques Delors, it aims to "think a united Europ ...
transparency
Transparency, transparence or transparent most often refer to:
* Transparency (optics), the physical property of allowing the transmission of light through a material
They may also refer to:
Literal uses
* Transparency (photography), a still ...
, that it is too bureaucratic and wasteful, that it encourages high levels of immigration, or perceptions that it is a
neoliberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
organisation serving the big business elite at the expense of the working class,John FitzGibbon, Benjamin Leruth, Nick Startin (editors). ''Euroscepticism as a Transnational and Pan-European Phenomenon''. Taylor & Francis, 2016. p.133 being responsible for
austerity
Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
, and is often found in populist parties. Although they criticise the EU for many of the same reasons, Eurosceptic left-wing populists focus more on economic issues, such as the European debt crisis and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, while Eurosceptic right-wing populists focus more on nationalism and immigration, such as the European migrant crisis. The rise in radical-right parties since the 2000s is strongly linked to a rise in Euroscepticism.
Eurobarometer surveys of EU citizens show that trust in the EU and its institutions declined strongly from 2007 to 2015. In that period, it was consistently below 50%. A 2009 survey showed that support for EU membership was lowest in the United Kingdom (UK),
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, and Hungary. By 2016, the countries viewing the EU most unfavourably were the UK, Greece, France, and Spain. The
2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...
resulted in a 51.9% vote in favour of leaving the EU ( Brexit), a decision that came into effect on 31 January 2020.
Since 2015, trust in the EU has risen in most EU countries as a result of falling unemployment rates and the end of the migrant crisis. A post- 2019 election Eurobarometer survey showed that 68% of citizens support the EU, the highest level since 1983; however, sentiment that things are not going in the right direction in the EU had increased to 50%.
Trust in the EU had increased significantly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with levels varying from member state to member state.
transparency
Transparency, transparence or transparent most often refer to:
* Transparency (optics), the physical property of allowing the transmission of light through a material
They may also refer to:
Literal uses
* Transparency (photography), a still ...
;
* the EU is too bureaucratic and wasteful;
* it encourages high levels of immigration;
* it is a
neoliberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
organisation serving the big business elite at the expense of the working class
* the EU is responsible for
austerity
Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
;
* the EU is responsible for driving privatization.
Terminology
There can be considered to be several different types of Eurosceptic thought, which differ in the extent to which adherents reject integration between member states of the EU and in their reasons for doing so. Aleks Szczerbiak and Paul Taggart described two of these as hard and soft Euroscepticism.Harmsen et al. (2005), p. 18.Szczerbiak et al. (2008), p. 7 At the same time, some scholars have said that there is no clear line between the presumed hard and soft Euroscepticism. Cas Mudde and Petr Kopecky have said that if the demarcation line is the number of and which policies a party opposes, then the question arises of how many must a party oppose and which ones should a party oppose that makes them hard Eurosceptic instead of soft.
Hard Euroscepticism
According to Taggart and Szczerbiak, hard Euroscepticism or anti-EU-ism is "a principled opposition to the EU and European integration and therefore can be seen in parties who think that their countries should withdraw from membership, or whose policies towards the EU are tantamount to being opposed to the whole project of European integration as it is currently conceived." The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament, typified by such parties as the Brexit Party and UK Independence Party (UKIP), displays hard Euroscepticism. In western European EU member countries, hard Euroscepticism is currently a characteristic of many anti-establishment parties.
Some hard Eurosceptics regard their position as pragmatic rather than in principle. Additionally, Tony Benn, a left-wing Labour Party MP who fought against
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
in 1975 by opposing membership of the
European Communities
The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...
in that year's referendum on the issue, emphasised his opposition to xenophobia and his support of democracy, saying: "My view about the European Union has always been not that I am hostile to foreigners, but that I am in favour of democracy. ... I think they're building an empire there, they want us to be a part of their empire and I don't want that."
The Czech president Václav Klaus rejected the term ''Euroscepticism'' for its purported negative undertones, saying at a meeting in April 2012 that the expressions for a Eurosceptic and their opponent should be "a Euro-realist" and someone who is "Euro-naïve", respectively.
François Asselineau
François Asselineau (, born 14 September 1957) is a French politician and an Inspector General for finances.
Asselineau was a member of the Rally for France (RPF) and UMP before creating his own political party the Popular Republican Union (U ...
Treaty of Rome
The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...
can only be modified with a unanimous agreement of all the EU member states, something he considers impossible to achieve.
Soft Euroscepticism
The
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...
group, typified by centre-right parties such as Czech Civic Democratic Party, and the European United Left–Nordic Green Left, which is an alliance of the left-wing parties in the European Parliament, display soft Euroscepticism. It reflects a support for the existence of, and membership of, a form of EU but with opposition to specific EU policies, or in Taggart's and Szczerbiak's words, "where there is NOT a principled objection to European integration or EU membership but where concerns on one (or a number) of policy areas lead to the expression of qualified opposition to the EU, or where there is a sense that 'national interest' is currently at odds with the EU's trajectory." The European Conservatives and Reformist Group does not itself use the descriptions Euroscepticism or soft Euroscepticism and instead describes its position as one of Eurorealism, a distinction described by Leruth as being one that is "quite subtle but should not be ignored" given the association of the term Euroscepticism with "European disintegration". Leruth describes Eurorealism as "a pragmatic, anti-federalist, and flexible vision of European integration where the principle of subsidiarity prevails, aiming to reform the current institutional framework to extend the role of national parliaments in the decision-making process." Steven states that "Eurorealism is a form of conservativism, first and foremost, rather than a form or Euroscepticism, even if it obviously very much also has the 'soft' Eurosceptic tendencies which are present in a number of ECR member parties."
Anti-Europeanism
While having some overlaps, Euroscepticism and
anti-Europeanism
Anti-Europeanism and Europhobia are political terms used in a variety of contexts, implying sentiment or policies in opposition to Europe.
In the context of racial or ethno-nationalist politics, this may refer to the culture or peoples of Europ ...
are different. Euroscepticism is criticism of the European Union (EU) and
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
. Anti-Europeanism is sentiment or policies in opposition to Europe. For example, American exceptionalism in the United StatesAnti-Europeanism and Euroscepticism in the United States Patrick Chamorel No 25, EUI-RSCAS Working Papers from European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS) 2004 has long led to criticism of European domestic policy, such as the size of the welfare state in European countries, and
foreign policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
, such as European countries that did not support the US-led
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
.
Other terms
Some scholars consider the gradual difference in terminology between hard and soft Euroscepticism inadequate to accommodate the large differences in terms of political agenda; ''hard Euroscepticism'' has also been referred to as ''Europhobia'' as opposed to mere ''Euroscepticism''. Other alternative names for hard and soft Euroscepticism include ''withdrawalist'' and ''reformist'', respectively.
Eurobarometer surveys
A survey in , conducted by TNS Opinion and Social on behalf of the European Commission, showed that, across the EU as a whole, those with a positive image of the EU were down from a high of 52% in 2007 to 37% in autumn 2015; this compares with 23% with a negative image of the EU, and 38% with a neutral image. About 43% of Europeans thought things were "going in the wrong direction" in the EU, compared with 23% who thought things were going "in the right direction" (11% "don't know"). About 32% of EU citizens tend to trust the EU as an institution, and about 55% do not tend to trust it (13% "don't know"). Distrust of the EU was highest in Greece (81%), Cyprus (72%), Austria (65%), France (65%), the United Kingdom (UK) and the Czech Republic (both 63%). Overall, more respondents distrusted their own government (66%) than they distrusted the EU (55%). Distrust of national government was highest in Greece (82%), Slovenia (80%), Portugal (79%), Cyprus (76%), and France (76%).
A Eurobarometer survey carried out four days prior to and six days after the
2016 United States presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
revealed that the surprise victory of Donald Trump caused an increase in the popularity of the EU in Europe. The increase was strongest among the political right and among respondents who perceived their country as economically struggling.
A survey carried out in April 2018 for the European Parliament by Kantar Public consulting found that support for the EU was "the highest score ever measured since 1983". Support for the EU was up in 26 out of 28 EU countries, the exceptions being Germany and the UK, where support had dropped by about 2% since the previous survey. Almost half (48%) of the 27,601 EU citizens surveyed agreed that their voice counted in the EU, up from 37% in 2016, whereas 46% disagreed with this statement. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents felt that their country had benefited from EU membership and 60% said that being part of the bloc was a good thing, as opposed to 12% who felt the opposite. At the height of the EU's financial and economic crises in 2011, just 47% had been of the view that EU membership was a good thing. Support for EU membership was greatest in Malta (93%), Ireland (91%),
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
(90%), Poland (88%), Luxembourg (88%), Estonia (86%), and Denmark (84%), and lowest in Greece (57%), Bulgaria (57%), Cyprus (56%), Austria (54%), the United Kingdom (53%), and Italy (44%).
When asked which issues should be a priority for the European Parliament, survey respondents picked terrorism as the most pressing topic of discussion, ahead of youth unemployment and immigration. Not all countries shared the same priorities. Immigration topped the list in Italy (66% of citizens surveyed considered it a priority issue), Malta (65%), and Hungary (62%) but fighting youth unemployment and support for economic growth were top concerns in Spain, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, and Croatia. Social protection of citizens was the top concern for Dutch, Swedish, and Danish respondents.
The April 2019 Eurobarometer showed that despite the challenges of the past years, and in cases such as the ongoing debate surrounding Brexit, possibly even because of it, the European sense of togetherness had not weakened, with 68% of respondents across the EU27 believing that their countries have benefited from being part of the EU, a historically high level since 1983. On the other hand, more Europeans (27%) were uncertain and saw the EU as "neither a good thing nor a bad thing", an increase in 19 countries. Despite the overall positive attitude towards the EU but in line with the uncertainty expressed by a growing number of Europeans, the feeling that things were not going in the right direction in both the EU and in their own countries had increased to 50% on EU average since September 2018.
History in the European Parliament
1999–2004
A study analysed voting records of the Fifth European Parliament and ranked groups, concluding: "Towards the top of the figure are the more pro-European parties (PES, EPP-ED, and ALDE), whereas towards the bottom of the figure are the more anti-European parties (EUL/NGL, G/EFA, UEN and EDD)."
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
founded a new European Parliament group called "
Independence and Democracy
Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) was a Eurosceptic political group active during the 2004–2009 term of the European Parliament. The group was the successor to the Europe of Democracies and Diversities (EDD) group.
The group collapsed foll ...
" from the old Europe of Democracies and Diversities (EDD) group.
The main goal of the ID group was to reject the proposed Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe. Some delegations within the group, notably that from UKIP, also advocated the complete withdrawal of their country from the EU, while others only wished to limit further European integration.
2009 elections
The elections of 2009 saw a significant fall in support in some areas for Eurosceptic parties, with all such MEPs from Poland, Denmark and Sweden losing their seats. In the UK, the Eurosceptic UKIP achieved second place in the election, finishing ahead of the governing Labour Party, and the British National Party (BNP) won its first-ever two MEPs. Although new members joined the ID group from Greece and the Netherlands, it was unclear whether the group would reform in the new parliament.
The ID group did reform, as the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) and is represented by 32 MEPs from nine countries.
2014 elections
The elections of 2014 saw a big anti-establishment vote in favour of Eurosceptic parties, which took around a quarter of the seats available. Those that came first their national elections included: UKIP in the UK (the first time since 1906 that a party other than Labour or the Conservatives had won a national vote), the National Front in France, the People's Party in Denmark and
Syriza
The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
in Greece. Second places were taken by Sinn Féin in Ireland and the
Five Star Movement
The Five Star Movement ( it, Movimento 5 Stelle , M5S) is a political party in Italy. Its leader and president is Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy from 2018 until 2021. The M5S was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a comedian an ...
President of the European Council
The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as t ...
, agreed following the election to re-evaluate the economic area's agenda and to launch consultations on future policy areas with the 28 member states.
2019 elections
The elections of 2019 saw the centre-left and centre-right parties suffer significant losses including losing their overall majority, while green, pro-EU liberal, and some Eurosceptic right wing parties saw significant gains. Those that came first in their national elections included: the Brexit Party in the UK (which was only launched on 12 April 2019 by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage), the
National Rally
The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...
of France (formerly the National Front party until June 2018), Fidesz in Hungary, Lega in Italy, and
Law and Justice
Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński.
It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...
in Poland. There were also notable falls in support for the Danish People's Party (previously topped the 2014 European election). Whilst Vox got elected with 3 seats, Spain's first Eurosceptic party and Belgium's Vlaams Belang rallied to gain second place after its poor 2014 result.
In EU member states
Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), established in 1956, is a right-wing populist party that mainly attracts support from young people and workers. In 1989, it changed its stance over the EU to Euroscepticism. It opposed Austria joining the EU in 1994, and opposed the introduction of the euro in 1998. The party would like to leave the EU if it threatens to develop into a country, or if Turkey joins. The FPÖ received 20–27% of the national vote in the 1990s, and more recently received 18% in 2008. Following the
2017 Austrian legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Austria on 15 October 2017 to elect the 26th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The snap election was called when the coalition government between the Social Democratic Party o ...
, it has 51/183 National Council seats, 16/62 Federal Council seats, and 4/19 European Parliament seats.
The Bündnis Zukunft Österreich (BZÖ), established in 2005, is a socially conservative party that has always held Eurosceptic elements. In 2011 the party openly supported leaving the eurozone, and in 2012 it announced that it supported a full withdrawal from the European Union. The party has also called upon a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In polls it currently receives around 10–15%, although in one state it did receive 45% of the vote in 2009. Since the 2017 election, it has 0/183 National Council seats, 0/62 Federal Council seats, and 0/19 European Parliament seats.
Team Stronach, established in 2012, has campaigned to reform the European Union, as well as to replace the euro with an Austrian Euro. In 2012, it regularly received 8–10% support in national polls. Politicians from many different parties (including the Social Democratic Party and the BZÖ) as well as previous independents switched their allegiances to the new party upon creation. In two local elections in March 2013, it won 11% of the vote in
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
, and 10% of the vote in Lower Austria. It dissolved in 2017
Ewald Stadler, a former member of FPÖ (and later of BZÖ) was very Eurosceptic, but in 2011 became a member of the European Parliament due to the Lisbon Treaty. Before Stadler accepted the seat, this led to heavy critics by Jörg Leichtfried (SPÖ) "Stadler wants to just rescue his political career" because Stadler before mentioned he would never accept a seat as MEP if this was only due to the Lisbon Treaty. On 23 December 2013 he founded a conservative and Eurosceptic party called The Reform Conservatives, although it has been inactive since June 2016.
In the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, the FPÖ increased its vote to 19.7% (up 7.0%), gaining 2 new MEPs, making a total of 4; the party came third, behind the ÖVP and the SPÖ. EU-STOP (the electoral alliance of the
EU Withdrawal Party
The EU Exit Party for Austria (german: EU-Austrittspartei für Österreich, EUAUS) is a political party in Austria founded on 15 September 2011. Its party programme is centered mainly on the demand to withdraw from the European Union and the es ...
and the
Neutral Free Austria Federation
The Neutral Free Austria Federation (german: Bündnis Neutrales Freies Österreich, NFÖ) is a political party in Austria founded on 17 March 2003. It contested the 2006 legislative election under the name "EU Withdrawal – Neutral Free Austria ...
) polled 2.8%, gaining no seats, and the
Reform Conservatives
The Reform Conservatives (''Die Reformkonservativen'', REKOS) was a conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Austria, political party in Austria.
The party was launched on 23 December 2013 by Ewald Stadler, a former member of the N ...
1.2%, with Team Stronach putting up no candidates.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, the FPÖ came 3rd with 17.2% of the vote which was only slightly down on 2014 despite a scandal allegedly promising public contracts to a woman posing as a Russian backer. This precipitated the collapse of the ruling coalition and a new election being called.
Belgium
According to
Eurostat
Eurostat ('European Statistical Office'; DG ESTAT) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statis ...
, in the fall of 2018, 44% of Belgium people stated that they did not trust the European Union. The main Eurosceptic party in Belgium is Vlaams Belang which is active in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. In the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, Belgium's Vlaams Belang lost over half of its previous vote share, polling 4.3% (down 5.5%) and losing 1 of its 2 members of the European Parliament. Despite the presence of Eurosceptic parties in Belgium, their weight is relatively low, as Belgium is predominantly
Europeanist
European values are the norms and values that Europeans are said to have in common, and which transcend national or state identity. In addition to helping promote European integration, this doctrine also provides the basis for analyses that char ...
.
In 2019, Vlaams Belang stated in its program for the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
, and refuses the accession of Turkey to the EU. More widely, the euro-sceptic arguments of the Vlaams Belang are based on four pillars:
# loss of sovereignty (for instance on economic sovereignty or on the binding legal order);
# the financial cost of the European Union;
# less competences for European Union;
# leaving the euro (even though in 2019 the party has changed its line and now wants to reform the euro). During the
2019 European Parliament election in Belgium
The 2019 European Parliament election in Belgium was held on 26 May 2019 in the three Belgian constituencies: the Dutch-speaking electoral college, the French-speaking electoral college and the German-speaking electoral college.
A royal order of ...
, Vlaams Belang made substantial gains in both and polled in second place in Flemish region. At the beginning of 2019, the party was enrolled in the group of European Alliance of People and Nations in the European Parliament.
The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) is a soft Eurosceptic party in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Before 2010, the N-VA was pro-European and supported the idea of a democratic European confederation, but has since altered this policy to a more sceptical stance on further European integration and now calls for more democratic transparency within the EU, changes to the EU's common asylum policy and economic reforms to the Eurozone. The N-VA has obtained 26.8% of the votes or 4 seats of the Dutch-language college out of 12 (21 MEPs for Belgium) in the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
. In April 2019, it stood in
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...
of the European Parliament, and can be considered a moderate Eurosceptic party.
In the French-speaking part of Belgium ( Walloons), there are four Eurosceptic parties. The first one is Nation Movement, a far-right party which was a member of the
Alliance for Peace and Freedom
The Alliance for Peace and Freedom (APF) is a far-right European political party founded on 4 February 2015. The main member parties had been involved in the now defunct European National Front.
The party wishes to establish a network of n ...
in the European Parliament. The second one is National Front, also a far right party which criticizes the European bureaucracy, intends to guarantee and preserve national independence and freedom in a liberated Europe; it also reaffirms the Christian roots of Europe. The third one is the People's Party, classified as right or extreme right. In its program for the European election of 2019 the People's Party proposes to abolish the European Commission, reduce the number of European parliamentarians and fight against the worker-posted directive. For this party, the EU must be led by a president elected by universal suffrage with clear but limited competences. It also wants to renegotiate the European Union treaties, restrict the judicial activism of the European Court of Human Rights. It declares itself against the Global Compact for Migration. The last one is the Parti libertarien. In early 2019, the party aims to reduce the powers of the European Commission, to abolish the Common Agricultural Policy, to abandon common defense projects, to simplify the exit procedure of the European Union, to reject
federalism
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
and to forbid the European Union to direct economic, fiscal or social policy, Finally, the Workers' Party of Belgium is an electoral and unitary party. It also intends to revise the European treaties considered too liberal. One of the Party's currencies is "The left that stings, against the Europe of money".
Attack
Attack may refer to:
Warfare and combat
* Offensive (military)
* Charge (warfare)
* Attack (fencing)
* Strike (attack)
* Attack (computing)
* Attack aircraft
Books and publishing
* ''The Attack'' (novel), a book
* '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...
, and VMRO – BND, which is a member of the Eurosceptic
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...
).
Bulgaria's Minister of Finance, Simeon Djankov, stated in 2011 that ERM II membership to enter the Euro zone would be postponed until after the Eurozone crisis had stabilised.
In the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
Bulgaria remained overwhelmingly pro-EU, with the Eurosceptic Attack party receiving 3% of the vote, down 9%, with the splinter group
National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria
The National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria ( bg, Национален фронт за спасение на България, Natsionalen front za spasenie na Bŭlgariya, NFSB), is an ultranationalist political party in Bulgaria.
History
...
taking 3; neither party secured any MEPs. A coalition between VMRO – BND and
Bulgaria Without Censorship
Reload Bulgaria ( bg, Презареди България, Prezaredi Balgariya; formerly Bulgaria Uncensored, bg, България без цензура) is a populist political party in Bulgaria.
History
The party was created by former TV host ...
secured an MEP position for
Angel Dzhambazki
Angel Chavdarov Dzhambazki (family name sometimes also transliteration, transliterated as Djambazki) (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Ангел Чавдаров Джамбазки) (born 21 March 1979, in Sofia) is a Bulgarian Bulgarian nationali ...
from IMRO, who is a soft Eurosceptic.
Followers of Eurosceptic Attack tore down and trampled the European flag on 3 March 2016 at a meeting of the party in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, dedicated to the commemoration of the 138th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, Bulgaria remained overwhelmingly pro-EU with the ruling centre-right Gerb party winning with 31%, against 26% for the socialist BSP.
Croatia
Parties with Eurosceptic views are mainly small right-wing parties like
Croatian Party of Rights
The Croatian Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava or HSP) is an extra-parliamentary nationalist political party in Croatia. The "right(s)" in the party's name refer to the legal and moral reasons that justify the independence and autonom ...
Human Shield
A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The use of human shields as a resistance measure was popula ...
that won 5 out of 151 seats at the 2016 parliamentary election,. Their position is generally considered to waver between hard and soft Euroscepticism; it requests thorough reform of the EU so that all member states would be perfectly equal.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, the Human Shield gained its first seat in the European Parliament with 6% of the vote putting it in 5th place.
ELAM
Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, there was little change politically – the conservatives won narrowly, the ruling DISY taking two seats with 29%, followed by socialist AKEL (27.5%, two seats) with no seats taken by Eurosceptic parties.
Czech Republic
In May 2010, the Czech president Václav Klaus said that they "needn't hurry to enter the Eurozone".
Petr Mach, an economist, a close associate of president Václav Klaus and a member of the Civic Democratic Party between 1997 and 2007, founded the Free Citizens Party in 2009. The party aims to mainly attract dissatisfied Civic Democratic Party voters. At the time of the Lisbon Treaty ratification, they were actively campaigning against it, supported by the president Vaclav Klaus, who demanded opt-outs such as were granted to the United Kingdom and Poland, unlike the governing Civic Democratic Party, who endorsed it in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
. After the treaty has been ratified, Mach's party is in favour of withdrawing from the European Union completely. In the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
2017 Czech legislative election
Legislative elections were held in the Czech Republic on 20 and 21 October 2017. All 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected and Andrej Babiš of ANO 2011, also the leader of the resultant government, became the Prime Minister. The ...
brought into Parliament two soft eurosceptic parties: centre-right Civic Democratic Party (ODS) (11%) and far-left
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia ( cs, Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, KSČM) is a communist party in the Czech Republic. As of 2021, KSČM has a membership of 28,715, and is a member party of The Left in the European Parliament ...
(KSČM) (8%). And one hard eurosceptic party, far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) (11%).
An April 2016 survey by the CVVM Institute indicated that 25% of Czechs were satisfied with EU membership, down from 32% the previous year.
Dividends worth CZK 270 billion were paid to the foreign owners of Czech companies in 2017, which has become a political issue in the Czech Republic.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, the Civic Democratic Party saw its vote share rise to 15% and its seats doubled from 2 to 4. The Freedom and Direct Democracy party took 2 seats with 9% of the vote. KSČM dropped 2 seats leaving it with only one and a vote share of 7%
Denmark
The People's Movement against the EU only takes part in European Parliament elections and has one member in the European Parliament. The soft Eurosceptic June Movement, originally a split-off from the People's Movement against the EU, existed from 1992 to 2009.
In the Danish Parliament, the Red-Green Alliance previously advocated withdrawal from the EU, but in March 2019, the party announced it would no longer campaign for a referendum to leave the EU, pointing to Brexit illustrating the need for clarity before withdrawal can be considered. The Danish People's Party also advocates withdrawal, but says it supports some EU structures such as the internal market, and supported the EU-positive Liberal-Conservative coalition between 2001 and 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019.
The Socialist People's Party, minorities within the Social Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party, and some smaller parties were against accession to the European Union in 1972. Still in 1986, these parties advocated a no vote in the Single European Act referendum. Later, the Social Liberal Party changed to a strongly EU-positive party, and EU opposition within the Social Democratic Party faded. The Socialist People's Party were against the Amsterdam Treaty in 1998 and Denmark's joining the euro in 2000, but has become increasingly EU-positive, for example when MEP Margrete Auken left the European United Left–Nordic Green Left and joined The Greens–European Free Alliance in 2004.
In the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
2019 Danish general election
General elections were held in the Kingdom of Denmark on 5 June 2019 to elect all 179 members of the Folketing; 175 in Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The elections took place ten days after the European Parliament ...
saw the emergence of a new hard Eurosceptic party
Nye Borgerlige
New Right ( da, Nye Borgerlige) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist Danish political party. The party was founded in the autumn 2015 by Pernille Vermund and Peter Seier Christensen. In the 2019 general election New Right won four ...
which supports Denmark leaving the EU. The party won four seats in parliament.
Estonia
The
Independence Party
Independence Party may refer to:
Active parties Outside United States
* Independence Party (Egypt)
* Estonian Independence Party
* Independence Party (Finland)
* Independence Party (Iceland)
* Independence Party (Mauritius)
* Independence Part ...
and Centre Party were against accession to the EU, but only the Independence Party still wants Estonia to withdraw from the EU. The Conservative People's Party (EKRE) also has some Eurosceptic policies and increased its vote share from 4% in 2014 to 13% in the 2019 European Elections winning one seat.
Finland
The largest Eurosceptic party in Finland is the Finns Party. In the
European Parliament election, 2014
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, the Finns Party increased their vote share by 3% to 13%, adding a second MEP. With their 39 seats, the Finns Party are also the second-biggest party in the 200-seat Finnish Eduskunta.
In Eurobarometer 77 (fieldwork in Spring 2012), 41% of Finns trusted the European Union (EU-27 average: 31%), 51% trusted The European Parliament (EU-27average: 40%), and 74% were in favour of the euro currency (EU-27 average: 52%).
In the European Parliament election, 2019, the Finns Party increased their vote share slightly from 13% to 14% and retained their 2 seats.
In its latest party platform written in 2019, the Finns Party is strongly opposed to further EU integration. The party proposes introducing a parallel currency within Finland in tandem with the Euro in order to phase out Finnish membership of the Eurozone and argues that while Finland is needed in the short-term in the European Parliament to defend Finland's interests, the country should also enact policies to help gradually withdraw Finland from the EU. During the
2018 Finnish presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Finland on 28 January 2018. The incumbent Sauli Niinistö received 62.7% of the vote and was elected for a second term, avoiding a Two-round system, second round. The term is from 1 March 2018 to 1 February 20 ...
, the Finns Party candidate Laura Huhtasaari stated that her campaign would support exiting the EU.
France
In France there are multiple parties that are Eurosceptic to different degrees, varying from advocating less EU intervention in national affairs, to advocating outright withdrawal from the EU and the Eurozone. These parties belong to all sides of the political spectrum, so the reasons for their Euroscepticism may differ. In the past many French people appeared to be uninterested in such matters, with only 40% of the French electorate voting in the
2009 European Parliament elections
The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making t ...
Mouvement pour la France
The Movement for France (french: Mouvement pour la France, MPF; ) was a conservative, soft Eurosceptic and Gaullist French political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It was led by Philippe de ...
'', which was part of Libertas, a pan-European Eurosceptic party. In the
2009 European Parliament elections
The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making t ...
, Debout la République received 1.8% of the national vote, and Libertas 4.8%. In a similar way to some moderate parties, the French right and far-right in general are naturally opposed to the EU, as they criticise France's loss of political and economic sovereignty to a
supranational Supranational or supra-national may refer to:
* Supranational union, a type of multinational political union
* Supranational law, a form of international law
* Supranational legislature, a form of international legislature
* Supranational curre ...
entity. Some of these hard Eurosceptic parties include the Popular Republican Union and formerly the Front National (FN). Popular Republican Union seek France's withdrawal from the EU and the euro as well as France's withdrawal from NATO. The FN received 33.9% of the votes in the
2017 French presidential election
The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! (EM) and Marine Le Pen of the Nationa ...
, making it the largest Eurosceptic party in France. In June 2018, the National Front was renamed as National Rally (RN) and in 2019 dropped support for France leaving the European Union and the Eurozone from its manifesto, instead calling for "reform from within" the union.
Eurosceptic parties on the left in France tend to criticise what they see as the
neoliberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
agenda of the EU, as well as the elements of its structure which are undemocratic and seen as top-down. These parties include the ''Parti de Gauche'' and the French Communist Party, which formed the ''Front de Gauche'' for the 2009 European Parliament elections and received 6.3% of the votes. The leader of the Left Front defends a complete reform of the Monetary Union, rather than the withdrawal of France from the Eurozone. Some of the major far-left Eurosceptic parties in France include the
New Anticapitalist Party
The New Anticapitalist Party (french: Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste , abbreviated NPA) is a far-left political party in France founded in February 2009. The party launched with 9,200 members and was intended to unify the fractured movements of ...
which received 4.8% and Lutte Ouvrière which received 1.2%. The
Citizen and Republican Movement
The Citizen and Republican Movement (French language, French: ''Mouvement républicain et citoyen'') is a political party in France. The party replaced in 2002 the Citizens' Movement (''Mouvement des citoyens'', MDC) founded by Jean-Pierre Chev ...
, a left-wing Eurosceptic and
souverainist
Sovereigntism, sovereignism or souverainism (from french: souverainisme, , meaning the ideology of sovereignty) is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation o ...
agrarianist
Agrarianism is a political and social philosophy that has promoted subsistence agriculture, smallholdings, and egalitarianism, with agrarian political parties normally supporting the rights and sustainability of small farmers and poor peasant ...
Eurosceptic party that says it is neither left nor right.
In the
European Parliament election, 2014
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, the National Front won the elections with 24.9% of the vote, a swing of 18.6%, winning 24 seats, up from 3 previously. The former French President
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
National Rally
The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...
won the elections with 23.3% of the vote, winning 22 seats, down from 23 previously when their vote share was 24.9%.
Germany
The
Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
(AfD) is Germany's largest Eurosceptic party. It was elected into the German Parliament with 94 seats in September 2017. Initially the AfD was a soft Eurosceptic party, that considered itself pro-Europe and pro-EU, but opposed the euro, which it believed had undermined European integration, and called for reforms to the Eurozone.
In the
European Parliament election, 2014
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, the Alternative for Germany came 5th with 7% of the vote, winning 7 seats and is a member of the Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists. The Alternative for Germany went on to take seats in three state legislatures in the Autumn of 2014.
The party became purely Eurosceptic in 2015, when an internal split occurred, leading to
Frauke Petry
Frauke Petry (; ; born 1 June 1975) is a German politician who chaired the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from July 2015 to September 2017. A chemist by training and with a professional background as a businesswoman, some political scientist ...
's leadership and a more hard-line approach to the European Union, including its calling for an end for German Eurozone membership, withdrawal from EU common asylum policies and significantly reducing the power of the EU with some AfD members supporting a complete exit from the EU altogether.
In July 2015 an AfD splinter group created a new soft Eurosceptic party called
Alliance for Progress and Renewal
The Liberal Conservative Reformers (german: Liberal-Konservative Reformer, LKR) is a centre-right to right-wing political party in Germany which was known from July 2015 to November 2016 as ALFA.
The party was established in July 2015 as a spli ...
.
In the European Parliament election, 2019, the Alternative for Germany increased their vote share from 7% and 7 seats to 11% and 11 seats.
In the
2021 German Federal Election
Federal elections in Germany, Federal elections were held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the List of members of the 20th Bundestag, 20th Bundestag. States of Germany, State elections in 2021 Berlin state election, Berli ...
, AfD won 10.3% of the vote and 94 seats whereas in 2017, they received 12.6% of the vote and 83 seats; this meant they moved from third place to fifth place, falling behind the Green Party and FDP, both of which had been less popular than the AfD in 2017. Despite their overall electoral decline, the AfD still emerged as the largest in the states of Saxony and Thuringia, and saw a strong performance in eastern Germany.
Greece
Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to:
Organizations
* Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain
** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977
** Open Source ...
,
Communist Party of Greece
The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece.
Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
Course of Freedom
Course of Freedom ( el, Πλεύση Ελευθερίας, translit=Plefsi Eleftherias) is a left-wing Greek political party founded on 19 April 2016, by former President of the Hellenic Parliament, Zoe Konstantopoulou.
History
After the agree ...
LAOS
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
have been the main Eurosceptic parties in Greece. According to the London School of Economics, Greece used to be the second most Eurosceptic country in the European Union, with 50% of Greeks thinking that their country has not benefited at all from the EU (only behind the UK). Meanwhile, 33% of Greeks viewed Greek membership in EU as a good thing, marginally ahead of the UK. 81% of Greeks felt that the EU was going in the wrong direction. These figures represented a major increase in Euroscepticism in Greece since 2009.
In June 2012, the Eurosceptic parties in Greece that were represented in the parliament before the Election in January 2015 (ANEL, Golden Dawn, KKE) got 45.8% of the votes and 40.3% of the seats in the parliament. In the legislative election of January 2015 the pro-European (left and right-wing) parties ( ND, PASOK,
Potami
Potami is a small village near Nicosia
Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. ...
,
KIDISO
The Movement of Democratic Socialists ( el, Κίνημα Δημοκρατών Σοσιαλιστών, ''Kinima Dimokraton Sosialiston'') is a political party in Greece established on 3 January 2015 by George Papandreou after splitting from the ...
DIMAR
Democratic Left (, , DIMAR) was a social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Greece, political party in Greece. Formed as a split from Synaspismos, Synaspismós, DIMAR was a minor party supporting the Cabinet of Antonis Samar ...
) got 43.3% of the votes. The Eurosceptic parties got 54.6%. The Eurosceptic left ( KKE, ANTARSYA-MARS and KKE (M–L)/ M–L KKE) got 42.6% of the votes and the Eurosceptic right (
Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to:
Organizations
* Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain
** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977
** Open Source ...
LAOS
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
) got 12.1% of the votes, with Syriza ahead with 36.3%. The Eurosceptic parties got 194 seats in the new parliament and the pro-EU parties got 106 seats.
According to the polls conducted in June and July 2015 (12 polls), the Eurosceptic left would get on average 48.0% (excluding extraparliamentary parties as ANTARSYA-MARS and KKE (m–l)/ML-KKE), the parliamentary pro-EU parties (Potami, New Democracy and PASOK) would get 33.8%, the extra-parliamentary (not represented in the Hellenic Parliament) pro-EU parties (KIDISO and EK) would get 4.4% and the Eurosceptic right would get 10.2% (excluding extraparliamentary parties, such as
LAOS
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
, not displayed on recent opinion polls). The soft Eurosceptic parties would get 42.3%, the hard Eurosceptic parties (including KKE, ANEL and
Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to:
Organizations
* Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain
** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977
** Open Source ...
) would get 15.9%, and the pro-EU parties (including extra-parliamentary parties displayed on opinion polls) would get 38.3% of the votes.
In the
European Parliament election, 2014
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
,
Syriza
The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
won the election with 26.6% of the vote (a swing of 21.9%) taking 6 seats (up 5), with
Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to:
Organizations
* Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain
** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977
** Open Source ...
coming 3rd taking 3 seats, the Communist Party taking 2 seats and the
Independent Greeks
The Independent Greeks - National Patriotic Alliance ( el, Ανεξάρτητοι Έλληνες (ΑΝΕΛ), ''Anexartitoi Ellines'', ANEL) is a national-conservative political party in Greece.
The party was the junior coalition partner to the ...
gaining their first ever seat. Syriza's leader Tsipras said he's not anti-European and does not want to leave the euro. According to '' The Economist'', Tsipras is willing to negotiate with Greece's European partners, and it is believed a Syriza victory could encourage radical leftist parties across Europe. Alexis Tsipras vowed to reverse many of the austerity measures adopted by Greece since a series of bailouts began in 2010, at odds with the Eurogroup's positions.
The government coalition in Greece was composed by Syriza and ANEL (right-wing hard Eurosceptic party, led by Panos Kammenos, who is the current Minister of Defence).
Euroscepticism has softened in Greece as the economy improved. According to a research in early 2018, 68% of Greeks judge as positive the participation of Greece in the EU (instead of 53.5% in 2017).
In the European Parliament election, 2019, the New Democracy movement, beat the ruling left-wing Syriza formation with 33.1% and 23.8% of the vote respectively, maintaining Syriza's 6 seats and prompting the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to call a legislative election on 7 July 2019. In this election, which was won by ND, the pro-European parties (ND, SYRIZA, KINAL, MeRA25, and the extra-parliamentary Union of Centrists and Recreate Greece) got 84.9% of the vote and the Eurosceptic parties (KKE, Greek Solution, the extraparliamentary Golden Dawn and a host of other small mainly left-wing parties) got 15.1%. That drastic change in the balance is mostly the result of SYRIZA abandoning Euroscepticism.
Hungary
Viktor Orbán is the soft Eurosceptic Prime Minister of Hungary for the national-conservative Fidesz Party. Another Eurosceptic party that was present in Hungary was Jobbik, which until around 2016, it was identified as a
radical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
and
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
party. Those far-right factions, who left Jobbik, they decided to form the Our Homeland Movement party.
In Hungary 39% of the population have a positive image of the EU, 20% have a negative image, and 40% neutral (1% "Don't know").
In the
2014 Hungarian parliamentary election
The 2014 Hungarian parliamentary election took place on 6 April 2014. This parliamentary election was the 7th since the 1990 first multi-party election. The result was a victory for the Fidesz–KDNP alliance, preserving its two-thirds majority, ...
, Fidesz got 44.5% of the votes, Jobbik got 20.5% of the votes and the communist Hungarian Workers' Party got 0.6% of the votes. Thus at the time, Eurosceptic parties in Hungary obtained 65.7% of the votes, one of the highest figures in Europe.
The green-liberal Politics Can Be Different (Lehet Más a Politika, LMP) classifies as a soft or reformist Eurosceptic party given its self-professed ''euro-critical'' stance. During the European parliamentary campaign of 2014 party Co-President András Schiffer described LMP as having a pronounced pro-integration position on environmental, wage and labour policy as supporting member state autonomy on the self-determination of local communities concerning land resources. So as to combat the differentiated integration of the
multi-speed Europe
Multi-speed Europe or two-speed Europe (called also "variable geometry Europe" or " Core Europe" depending on the form it would take in practice) is the idea that different parts of the European Union should integrate at different levels and p ...
which discriminates against Eastern and Southern member states, LMP would like to initiate an eco-social market economy within the union.
In the European Parliament election, 2019, Fidesz consolidated their position by increasing their vote share to 51.5% and adding a seat to take their tally to 13. Former Eurosceptic (now pro-European) Jobbik dropped to 6.3% of the votes, losing 2 of its 3 seats. The Momentum Movement, a newly created pro-European party, came 3rd with 9.3% of the vote, with the strongly pro-European Democratic Coalition coming second with 16.1% of the vote. Our Homeland Movement got to 3.3% of the votes, gaining no seats.
Ireland
Euroscepticism is a minority view in Ireland, with opinion polls from 2016 to 2018 indicating growing support for EU membership, moving from 70% to 92% in that time.
The Irish people initially voted against ratifying the Nice and Lisbon Treaties. Following renegotiations, second referendums on both were passed with approximately 2:1 majorities in both cases. Some commentators and smaller political groups questioned the validity of the Irish Government's decision to call second referendums.
The left-wing
Irish republican
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
party Sinn Féin expresses soft Eurosceptic positions on the current structure of the European Union and the direction in which it is moving.
The party expresses, "support for Europe-wide measures that promote and enhance human rights, equality and the all-Ireland agenda", but has a "principled opposition" to a
European superstate
The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of Amer ...
. In its manifesto for the
2015 UK general election
The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Local ...
, Sinn Féin pledged that the party would campaign for the UK to stay within the EU. In the last European Parliament election in 2014, Sinn Féin won 3 seats coming second in seats and third in votes with 19.5% of the vote up 8.3%.
The Trotskyist organisation, the Socialist Party, supports Ireland leaving the EU and supported the Brexit result. It argues that the European Union is institutionally capitalist and neoliberal. The Socialist Party campaigned against the Lisbon and Nice Treaties and favours the foundation of an alternative Socialist European Union.
Italy
The
Five Star Movement
The Five Star Movement ( it, Movimento 5 Stelle , M5S) is a political party in Italy. Its leader and president is Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy from 2018 until 2021. The M5S was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a comedian an ...
Beppe Grillo
Giuseppe Piero "Beppe" Grillo (; born 21 July 1948) is an Italian comedian, actor, blogger, and politician.
He has been involved in politics since 2009 as the co-founder (together with Gianroberto Casaleggio) of the Italian Five Star Movement ...
, originally set itself out as a Eurosceptic party. The M5S received 25.5% of vote in the
2013 general election
Thirteen or 13 may refer to:
* 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14
* One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013
Music
* 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band
Albums
* ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013
* ...
, becoming the largest anti-establishment and Eurosceptic party in Europe. The party used to advocate a non-binding referendum on the withdrawal of Italy from the Eurozone (but not from the European Union) and the return to the
lira
Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...
. Since then, the party has toned down its eurosceptic rhetoric and such policy was rejected in 2018, and the M5S's leader has since stated that the "European Union is the Five Star Movement's home", clarifying that the party wants Italy to stay in the EU, even though it remains critical of some of its treaties. The M5S's popular support is distributed all across Italy: in the 2018 general election the party won 32.7% of the popular vote nationwide, and was particularly successful in
central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
.
A party that retains a Eurosceptic identity is the
Northern League Northern League may refer to:
Sport
Baseball
* Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971
* Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...
(LN), a regionalist movement led by Matteo Salvini favouring Italy's exit from the Eurozone and the re-introduction of the lira. When in government, Lega approved the Treaty of Lisbon. The party won 6.2% of the vote in the 2014 European Parliament elections, but two of its leading members are presidents of
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
and Veneto (where Lega gained 40.9% of the vote in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
).
In the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
the Five Star Movement came second, with 17 seats and 21.2% of the vote after contesting EP seats for the first time. Northern League had five seats and The Other Europe with Tsipras had three seats.
Other minor Eurosceptic organizations include right-wing political parties (e.g., Brothers of Italy, Tricolour Flame, New Force, National Front,
CasaPound
CasaPound Italia (abbr. CPI; "House of Ezra Pound") is an Italian neo-fascist movement and formerly a political party born as a network of far-right social centres arising from the occupation of a state-owned building by squatters in the neighbo ...
,
National Movement for Sovereignty
The National Movement for Sovereignty ( it, Movimento Nazionale per la Sovranità, MNS) was a national-conservative political party in Italy, founded on 18 February 2017, with the merger of National Action and The Right. Its founders were Gianni ...
Marco Rizzo
Marco Rizzo (born 12 October 1959 in Turin) is an Italian politician, leader of the Communist Party (PC) and in 2022 with Sovereign and Popular Italy.
Biography
A graduate in political science in 1985, he was a lecturer in vocational guidance ( ...
, the Italian Communist Party and the political movement Power to the People) and other political movements (e.g., the Sovereignist Front, MMT Italy). In addition, the European Union is criticized (especially for the
austerity
Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
and the creation of the euro) by some left-wing thinkers, like the trade unionist Giorgio Cremaschi and the journalist Paolo Barnard, and some academics, such as the economists
Alberto Bagnai
Alberto Bagnai (born 10 December 1962) is an Italian politician and economist.
Biography
Bagnai was born in 1962 in Florence. After moving to Rome in 1971, he studied economy at the Department of Public Economics of the Sapienza University o ...
Diego Fusaro
Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''.
Et ...
and the mathematician Marino Badiale.
According to the Standard Eurobarometer 87 conducted by the European Commission in spring 2017, 48% of Italians tend not to trust the European Union compared to 36% of Italians who do.
In the
2019 European election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, the Italian Eurosceptic and
souverainist
Sovereigntism, sovereignism or souverainism (from french: souverainisme, , meaning the ideology of sovereignty) is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation o ...
right-wing, represented in large part by the League, increased its number of seats in the EP, but was not assigned any presidency in the committees of the European Parliament. Despite its national political alliance with the League during the Conte Cabinet, the
Five Star Movement
The Five Star Movement ( it, Movimento 5 Stelle , M5S) is a political party in Italy. Its leader and president is Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy from 2018 until 2021. The M5S was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a comedian an ...
Christian Democratic Union of Germany
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right ...
, as
President of the European Commission
The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...
.
In July 2020, senator Gianluigi Paragone formed Italexit, a new political party with a main goal to withdraw Italy from the European Union.
For Latvia from the Heart
Awakening for Latvia ( lv, Atmoda Latvijai) is a conservative political party in Latvia. It was founded as For Latvia from the Heart ( lv, No sirds Latvijai) in May 2014 by former State Auditor Inguna Sudraba.
History
The party was established ...
are parties that are described by some political commentators as bearing soft Eurosceptic views. A small hard Eurosceptic party exists, but it has failed to gain any administrative seats throughout history of its existence.
Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) (2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) (2016–2019), is a Conservatis ...
.
Malta
The Labour Party was not in favour of Malta entering the European Union. It was in favour of a partnership with the EU. After a long battle, the Nationalist Party led by Eddie Fenech Adami won the referendum and the following election, making Malta one of the states to enter the European Union on 1 May 2004. The party is now pro-European. Nowadays the People's Party often adopts Eurosceptic views.
Netherlands
Historically, the Netherlands have been a very pro-European country, being one of the six founding members of the
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembo ...
in 1952, and campaigning with much effort to include the United Kingdom into the Community in the 1970s and others after that. It has become slightly more Eurosceptic in the 2000s, rejecting the European Constitution in 2005 and complaining about the relatively high financial investment into the Union or the democratic deficit amongst other issues.
A number of hard and soft eurosceptic parties have politicians elected to the Dutch House of Representatives and European Parliament which include:
* The nationalist
Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands.
Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
(founded in 2006) is a hard-eurosceptic party and wants the Netherlands to leave the EU in its entirety, because it believes the EU is undemocratic, costs money and cannot close the borders for immigrants.
* The conservative and right-wing populist Forum for Democracy (FvD) party was originally founded by Thierry Baudet as a think tank to campaign against the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine. In 2016, the FvD was established as a fully fledged party. It is opposed to many of the policies of the European Union and calls for a referendum on Dutch membership in which it would endorse withdrawal.
* The conservative-liberal JA21 party (founded in 2021 as a splinter from the FvD) is opposed to Dutch participation several European Union agreements, including its immigration and asylum policies, and believes Dutch identity and self-determination should be prioritized above the EU. It supports Dutch withdrawal from the Eurozone and for the Netherlands to exit EU treaties it deems a threat to national sovereignty.
* The Socialist Party believes the European Union has already brought Europe 50 years of peace and prosperity and argues that European co-operation is essential for tackling global problems like climate change and international crime. The SP opines that the current Union is dominated by the big businesses and the big countries, while the labour movement, consumer organisations and smaller companies are often left behind. "Neoliberal" measures have supposedly increased social inequality, and perhaps the Union is expanding too fast and taking on too much power in issues that should be dealt with on a national level.
* The conservative Protestant
Reformed Political Party
The Reformed Political Party ( nl, Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is a conservative CalvinistThese sources describe the SGP as a Calvinist political party:
*
*
*
*
* political party in the Netherlands. The term ''Reformed'' is not a refere ...
and the Christian Union favour co-operation within Europe, but reject a superstate, especially one that is dominated by Catholics, or that infringes on religious rights and/or privileges.
* The pensioner's interest party
50PLUS
50PLUS (; abbreviated 50+) is a political party in the Netherlands that advocates pensioners' interests. The party was founded in 2009 by Maurice Koopman, Alexander Münninghoff, and Jan Nagel. Henk Krol served as the party's leader from 2016 to ...
is moderately Eurosceptic.
* The ecologist
Party for the Animals
The Party for the Animals ( nl, Partij voor de Dieren; PvdD) is a List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare.
Since 2019, the PvdD's political lead ...
favours European co-operation, but believes the current EU does not respect animal rights enough and should have a more active policy on environment protection.
* The agrarian and rural interests Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) was founded in 2019 and is a soft-eurosceptic party. It supports membership of the EU for economic and trade purposes, but argues the political power of the EU should be stripped back so the bloc is closer to the model of the former EEC, wants reforms made to the Eurozone and is against the EU becoming a superstate.
* The classical liberal and conservative
Belang van Nederland
Belang van Nederland (BVNL, ) is a political party in the Netherlands, led by Wybren van Haga. It is currently active in the House of Representatives as the independent Van Haga Group (). Its three MPs split from Forum for Democracy in August 202 ...
(founded in 2021 as a splinter from the FvD) wants to stop any further transfer of powers to the EU without referendums, calls for Dutch law to come before EU law and for a referendum on EU membership if polls show public support for one or if the EU assumes more powers.
A prominent former Eurosceptic party in the Netherlands was the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) established by politician and academic Pim Fortuyn in 2002. The party campaigned to reduce Dutch financial contributions to the EU, was against Turkish membership and opposed what it saw as the excessive bureaucracy and threat to national sovereignty posed by the EU. During the 2002 general election, the LPF polled in second place with 17% of the vote. Following the assassination of Fortuyn in the run-up to the election, support for the party declined soon after and it was disbanded in 2008 with many of is former supporters transferring to the
Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands.
Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
.
Despite these concerns, in 2014 the majority of the Dutch electorate continued to support parties that favour ongoing European integration: the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, the Liberals, but most of all the (Liberal) Democrats.
In 2016, a substantial majority in a low-turnout referendum rejected the ratification of an EU trade and association treaty with Ukraine.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, Eurosceptic parties had mixed results with Geert Wilders'
Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands.
Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
losing all 4 of its seats taking only 3.5% of the vote. The new Forum for Democracy established in late 2016 took 11.0% of the vote and entered the European Parliament with 3 seats.
Poland
The main parties with Eurosceptic views are
Law and Justice
Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński.
It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...
Ryszard Bender
Ryszard Janusz Bender (16 February 1932 – 24 February 2016) was a Polish politician and historian, a specialist on the history of the January Uprising.
Career
He was professor of History at John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
In 1976 ...
Anna Sobecka
Anna Elżbieta Sobecka (born 27 March 1951 in Piotrków Kujawski) is a Polish Member of Parliament. She was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 13,761 votes in 5 Toruń district as a candidate on the League of Polish Families list. C ...
Artur Zawisza
Artur Wojciech Zawisza (, born 30 March 1969) is a Polish politician. He is a member of the Libertas Poland party, of which he is the vice-president.
He was born in Lublin, Poland, and graduated in literature and philosophy from the Catholic U ...
,
Stanisław Żółtek
Stanisław Józef Żółtek (born 7 May 1956) is a Polish politician who is the current leader of the Congress of the New Right. He was a Member of the European Parliament representing Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie.
He was a candidate for ...
.
Former president of Poland Lech Kaczyński resisted giving his signature on behalf of Poland to the Treaty of Lisbon, objecting specifically to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Subsequently, Poland got an opt-out from this charter. As Polish President, Kaczyński also opposed the Polish government's intentions to join the euro.
In 2015, it was reported that Euroscepticism was growing in Poland, which was thought to be due to the "economic crisis, concern over perceived interference from Brussels and migration". Polish president Andrzej Duda indicated that he wished for Poland to step back from further EU integration. He suggested that the country should "hold a referendum on joining the euro, resist further integration and fight the EU's green policies", despite getting the largest share of EU cash.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, the Law and Justice party won the largest number of seats, with a vote share increase up from 31.8% to 45.4%, increasing its seats from 19 to 27.
In 2019, the former
MEP MEP may refer to:
Organisations and politics
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka
* Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...
Stanisław Żółtek
Stanisław Józef Żółtek (born 7 May 1956) is a Polish politician who is the current leader of the Congress of the New Right. He was a Member of the European Parliament representing Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie.
He was a candidate for ...
created a political party called PolEXIT, whose flagship ideology is euroscepticism. Its candidate for president of Poland in the
2020 elections
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...
was the party's leader, Żółtek, who got 45 419 votes (0,23%), ranking 7th out of 11 candidates and did not qualify to the second round.
Portugal
The main Eurosceptic parties in Portugal are
Chega Chega may refer to:
* Chega, Iran, a village
*Chega (political party), a political party in Portugal
*Chega!, a report by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor
*"Chega", a 2020 song by Gaia Gozzi
Gaia Gozzi, known as ...
Left Bloc Left Bloc may refer to:
* Left Bloc (Portugal), a political party in Portugal
* Left Bloc (Croatia), a political alliance in Croatia
* Left Bloc (Hungary)
The Left Bloc (in Hungarian: ''Baloldali Blokk'') was a political alliance in Hungary, f ...
(BE). Opinion polling in Portugal in 2015 indicated that 48 per cent tended not to trust the EU, while 79 per cent tended not to trust the Portuguese government (then led by Portugal Ahead). Eurosceptic political parties hold a combined total of 23 seats out of 230 in Portugal's parliament (BE 5, PCP 6, PNR 0, CHEGA 12) and a combined total of 4 out of Portugal's 21 seats in the European Parliament (PCP 2, BE 2, PNR 0, CHEGA 0).
In the last
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
Left Bloc Left Bloc may refer to:
* Left Bloc (Portugal), a political party in Portugal
* Left Bloc (Croatia), a political alliance in Croatia
* Left Bloc (Hungary)
The Left Bloc (in Hungarian: ''Baloldali Blokk'') was a political alliance in Hungary, f ...
won one seat.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
,
Left Bloc Left Bloc may refer to:
* Left Bloc (Portugal), a political party in Portugal
* Left Bloc (Croatia), a political alliance in Croatia
* Left Bloc (Hungary)
The Left Bloc (in Hungarian: ''Baloldali Blokk'') was a political alliance in Hungary, f ...
National Renovator Party
Rise Up ( pt, Ergue-te, E), originally the National Renewal Party (, PNR) until July 2020, is a Portuguese far-right nationalist political party.
History
The PNR was established in February 2000. In July 2020, the party was renamed.
Controv ...
(PNR) polled just 0.5%, with no seats.
2019 saw the emergence of a new Eurosceptic political party,
Chega Chega may refer to:
* Chega, Iran, a village
*Chega (political party), a political party in Portugal
*Chega!, a report by the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor
*"Chega", a 2020 song by Gaia Gozzi
Gaia Gozzi, known as ...
, who gained a seat in that year's legislative election. The party did not capture any seats in the 2019 European Parliament elections, but saw its leader
André Ventura
André Claro Amaral Ventura (; born 15 January 1983) is a right-wing Portuguese politician and former sports pundit. He briefly worked as a senior civil servant at the Portuguese tax office. He founded the Chega party in April 2019, and was ele ...
Several parties espousing Eurosceptic views exist on the right, such as the
New Republic New Republic may refer to:
Places
* New Republic, California, former name of Santa Rita, Monterey County, California
* New Republic (Santarem), district in the city of Santarém, Pará
Countries
* New Republic (Brazil), the restored civilian gove ...
Noua Dreaptă
''Noua Dreaptă'' ( en, The New Right) is an ultranationalist, far-right organization in Romania and Moldova, founded in 2000. The party claims to be the successor to the far-right Iron Guard, with its aesthetics and ideology being directly i ...
, but as of June 2020 none of these parties are represented in European Parliament. Euroscepticism is relatively unpopular in Romania; all mainstream political parties are pro-European and a 2015 survey found 65% of Romanians had a positive view of the country's EU membership.
The Eurosceptic parties remained unrepresented in the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
.
Slovakia
Parties with primarily Eurosceptic views represented in the National Council are the People's Party Our Slovakia,
Republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
Andrej Danko
Andrej Danko (born 12 August 1974) is a Slovak politician who has been Speaker (politics), Speaker of the National Council (Slovakia), National Council of the Slovak Republic from 2016 to 2020 and Chairman of the Slovak National Party since 2012 ...
.
In the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
2019 European Parliament election in Slovenia
2019 European Parliament elections were held in Slovenia on 26 May 2019. This was the most recent in the series of four elections held over the period of two years.
Candidates
Opinion polls
Poll results are listed in the table below in reve ...
.
Spain
The process of Europeanization changed during the years in Spain. In 1986 Spain entered in the European Community. Since then, Spain has been one of the most Europeanist countries. Therefore, when Spain became part of the European Community, the country had a strong
pro-Europeanist
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Politi ...
feeling, according to Eurobarometer, as it reflected a 60% of the population. In Spain different reasons explain its entrance to the European Community. On the one hand, democracy has just been established in Spain after
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
dictatorship. On the other hand, the main objectives of Spain were to achieve economic development, and also a social modernization. Spain was one of the few countries to vote Yes for the European Constitution in a referendum in February 2005, though by a lower margin in Catalonia and the Basque Country. In 2008, after the financial crisis reached Spain, the percentage of pro European persons started to fall. Thus, during the five years of the economic crisis, the Eurobarometer shows how the trust in the EU increasingly fell in Spain, and the confidence of the Spanish citizens in the European Union decreased for more than 50 points. Spain became one of the most Eurosceptic countries among all European Union Members, as it happened in pretty much European countries, where nationalist and eurosceptic characterised parties became stronger.
The historical two-parties system, composed by the conservative Partido Popular and the social-democratic Partido Socialista Obrero Español, collapsed. In the 2000s, the liberal
Ciudadanos
Citizens ( es, link=no, Ciudadanos ; ca, link=no, Ciutadans ; eu, link=no, Hiritarrak; gl, link=no, Cidadáns; shortened as Cs—C's until January 2017), officially Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (''Ciudadanos–Partido de la Ciudadanía'') ...
and leftist party Podemos became part of the political context, gaining electoral consensus, followed years later by ultranationalist party Vox. The new parties were the effect of the disaffection of most Spaniards towards politics and politicians, that increased for several reasons: firstly,
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
at all political levels, reaching the
Royal Family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...
too; secondly, recession intensified distrust of the population towards national government; thirdly, a phase of renovation of the autonomous regions which extended the distance between the National government and the Regional ones. Candidatura d'Unitat Popular, a left-wing to far-left political party with about 1,300 members advocates independence for Catalonia outside of the European Union. Up to 2014 European elections, there were no Spanish parties present in the Eurosceptic groups at the European Parliament. In the
2015 Spanish general election
The 2015 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 20 December 2015, to elect the 11th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate. At exac ...
, Podemos became the first left-wing Eurosceptic political party to win seats in the Congress of Deputies, obtaining 69 seats, and in the
2019 Spanish general election There were two general elections in Spain in 2019:
2019 Spanish general election may refer to:
* April 2019 Spanish general election, to elect the 13th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain
* November 2019 Spanish general election, to elect the 1 ...
, Vox became the first far-right Eurosceptic political party to win seats in the Congress of Deputies, obtaining 24 seats.
Sweden
The
Left Party of Sweden
The Left Party ( sv, Vänsterpartiet ; V) is a socialist political party in Sweden. On economic issues, the party opposes privatizations and advocates increased public expenditure. In foreign policy, the party is Eurosceptic, being opposed to th ...
is against accession to the eurozone and previously wanted Sweden to leave the European Union until 2019.
The nationalist and right-wing populist party
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats ( sv , Sverigedemokraterna ; SD ) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden. As of 2022, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing governing bloc to which it provides confidence and supply, a ...
support closer political, economic and military cooperation with neighboring Nordic and certain Northern European countries, but strongly oppose further EU integration and further transfers of Swedish sovereignty to the EU as a whole. The party is also against Swedish accession to the eurozone, the creation of a combined EU military budget and want to renegotiate Swedish membership of the Schengen Agreement.
The
June List
The June List ( sv, Junilistan, jl) is a Swedish, Eurosceptic political party. Founded in 2004, it received 14% in the European Parliament election of the same year - gaining three seats. In the elections of 2009, however, it saw a drop of 11 p ...
, a Eurosceptic list consisting of members from both the political right and left won three seats in the 2004 Elections to the European Parliament and sat in the EU-critical IND/DEM group in the European Parliament. The movement favours a withdrawal from the EU.
Around 75% of the
Riksdag
The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
members represent parties that officially supports the Sweden membership.
In the
European Parliament election, 2014
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, the
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats ( sv , Sverigedemokraterna ; SD ) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden. As of 2022, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing governing bloc to which it provides confidence and supply, a ...
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats ( sv , Sverigedemokraterna ; SD ) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden. As of 2022, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing governing bloc to which it provides confidence and supply, a ...
increased from 2 to 3 seats with 15.3% of the vote, up from 9.7%, and the Left Party retained its one seat with 6.8% of the vote.
In winter 2019–2020, in connection with the request from "poor" member countries of much higher membership fees for "rich" member countries, for the reason of keeping support levels so "poor" countries wouldn't suffer from Brexit, where a "rich" country left the union in part due to high membership fees, a media and social media debate for a "Swexit" increased. This was still rejected by parties representing a majority of the parliament, with the COVID-19 pandemic quickly taking over the debate.
2018 Armenian parliamentary election
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incum ...
, the party gained 26 seats in the National Assembly, becoming the official opposition. Following the
2021 Armenian parliamentary election
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 20 June 2021. The elections had initially been scheduled for 9 December 2023, but were called earlier due to a political crisis following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and an alleged attempted ...
Georgian March is the main Eurosceptic party in Georgia. The party supports a slight distancing of Georgia from the West, as well as rejecting the country's entrance into NATO.
In March 2022, Georgia submitted a formal application for membership of the EU.
Iceland
The three main Eurosceptic parties in Iceland are the
Independence Party
Independence Party may refer to:
Active parties Outside United States
* Independence Party (Egypt)
* Estonian Independence Party
* Independence Party (Finland)
* Independence Party (Iceland)
* Independence Party (Mauritius)
* Independence Part ...
, Left-Green Movement and the Progressive Party. The Independence Party and the Progressive Party won the parliamentary election in April 2013 and they have halted the current negotiations with the European Union regarding Icelandic membership and tabled a parliamentary resolution on 21 February 2014 to withdraw the application completely.
In 2017, Iceland's newly elected government announced that it would hold a vote in parliament on whether to hold a referendum on resuming EU membership negotiations. In November 2017 that government was replaced by a coalition of the Independence Party, the Left Green Movement and the Progressive Party; all of whom oppose membership. Only 11 out of 63 MPs are in favour of EU membership.
Moldova
The main Eurosceptic parties in Moldova are the left-wing
Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova
The Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Partidul Socialiștilor din Republica Moldova; russian: Партия социалистов Республики Молдова, Partya sotsialistov Respubliki Moldova, PSRM) is a democra ...
, which officially declared its main purpose to be the integration of Moldova in the Eurasian Economic Union, the Șor Party, and the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, even if nowadays its leader speech became more soft on the issue of Euroscepticism. As of March 2022 all the parties are represented in Moldovan Parliament, with 37 MPs out of a total of 101 MPs.
In March 2022, Moldova submitted a formal application for membership of the EU.
Montenegro
The right-wing
Democratic Front Democratic Front is a name used by political parties and alliances in several countries, such as:
*Democratic Front (Albania)
*Democratic Front for the Liberation of Angola
*Democratic Front (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
*Democratic Front (Cyprus)
* Demo ...
alliance are the main moderate eurosceptic subject in the Parliament of Montenegro, although its initially declaratively supported country's bid for accession to the European Union, all other parliamentary subjects officially advocates Montenegrin access to EU. The only parties that advocates Montenegro's rejecting the European integration are the extra-parliamentary right-wing populist to far-right parties, such as True Montenegro,
Party of Serb Radicals
Party of Serb Radicals ( sr, Странка српских радикала, Stranka srpskih radikala, SSR), formerly Serbian Radical Party of Montenegro (SRS CG), was a minor far-right and Serbian nationalist political party, active in Montenegro ...
Since having come into national opposition, and amid disagreements in the Macedonia naming dispute, the VMRO-DPMNE – which does not endorse the name of ''North Macedonia'', instead continuing to refer to '' Republic of Macedonia'' without qualifiers – no longer supports the country's candidacy for EU membership. It has subsequently declared its aspirations towards Russia.
Norway
Norway has rejected EU membership in two referendums,
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
and
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
Capitalist Party
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are the ruling United Russia, and opposition parties the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
, anthem =
, seats1_title = Seats in the State Duma
, seats1 =
, seats2_title = Seats in the Federation Council
, seats2 =
, seats3_title = Governors
, seats3 =
, seats4_title ...
and
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
)
, abbreviation = LDPR (English)ЛДПР (Russian)
, native_name =
, newspaper = ''For the Russian People''
, youth_wing =
, seats1_title = Seats in the Federation Council
, seats1 =
, seats2_title ...
.
Following the
2014 Crimean crisis
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.
The Revolution of Dign ...
, the European Union issued sanctions on the Russian Federation in response to what it regards as the "illegal" annexation of Crimea and "deliberate destabilisation" of a neighbouring sovereign country. In response to this,
Alexey Borodavkin
Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian language, Russian and Bulgarian language, Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek language, Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "D ...
– Russia's permanent representative with the UN – said "The EU is committing a direct violation of human rights by its actions against Russia. The unilateral sanctions introduced against us are not only illegitimate according to international law, they also undermine Russian citizens' freedom of travel, freedom of development, freedom of work and others". In the same year, Russian president Vladimir Putin said: "What are the so-called European values? Maintaining the coup, the armed seizure of power and the suppression of dissent with the help of the armed forces?"
A February 2014 poll conducted by the Levada Center, Russia's largest independent polling organization, found that nearly 80% of Russian respondents had a "good" impression of the EU. This changed dramatically in 2014 with the Ukrainian crisis resulting in 70% taking a hostile view of the EU compared to 20% viewing it positively.
A Levada poll released in August 2018 found that 68% of Russians polled believe that Russia needs to dramatically improve relations with Western countries. 42% of Russian respondents said they had a positive view of the EU, up from 28% in May 2018.
landlocked
A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...
microstate
A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or very small land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law.Warrington, E. (1994). "Lilliputs ...
on 20 October 2013 in which the citizens were asked whether the country should submit an application to join the European Union. The proposal was rejected because of a low turnout, even though 50.3% of voters approved it. The "Yes" campaign was supported by the main left-wing parties ( Socialist Party, United Left) and the Union for the Republic whereas the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party suggested voting with a
blank ballot
A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or "none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms a ...
We Sammarinese
We Sammarineses ( it, Noi Sammarinesi, NS) is a conservative-liberal political party in San Marino.
In the 2006 general election NS won 2.5% and 1 out of 60 seats and stood in opposition to the 2006-2008 governing coalition of the Party of Soci ...
European citizens
European Union citizenship is afforded to all citizens of member states of the European Union (EU). It was formally created with the adoption of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, at the same time as the creation of the EU. EU citizenship is additio ...
, may have been an important reason for those voting no.
Serbia
In Serbia, political parties with eurosceptic views tend to be right-orientated. The most notable examples are the ultranationalistSerbian Radical Party (SRS) which since its inception has opposed entering the European Union and the right-wing populistDveri. Political parties such as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) had pro-Western views and was initially supportive of the accession into the European Union but under the late 2000s leadership of Vojislav Koštunica they turned eurosceptic, and the Enough is Enough (DJB) political party, initially a liberal centrist party that also supported the accession turned towards the right-wing eurosceptic position shortly after 2018.
Historically, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) and the Yugoslav Left (JUL) were the only two left-leaning political parties that imposed eurosceptic and anti-Western views. The ruling coalition in Serbia, For Our Children, which is predominantly pro-European orientated is also composed of two minor eurosceptic parties, the right-wing Serbian People's Party that advocates closer ties to Russia, and the left-leaning Movement of Socialists which was formed as the eurosceptic split from SPS in the 2000s.
Other minor political parties in Serbia that have eurosceptic views are Healthy Serbia, People's Freedom Movement,
Russian Party
The Russian Party ( el, Ρωσικό Κóμμα), presenting itself as the Napist Party ("Dell Party", el, κόμμα των Ναπαίων), one of the Early Greek parties, was an informal grouping of Greek political leaders that formed during t ...
Serbian Party Oathkeepers
The Serbian Party Oathkeepers ( sr-cyrl, Српска странка Заветници, Srpska stranka Zavetnici, SSZ) is a far-right political party in Serbia.
The party's previous name was Serbian Movement Oathkeepers ( sr-cyrl, Српск ...
Leviathan Movement
The Leviathan Movement ( sr-cyrl, Покрет Левијатан, Pokret Levijatan) is a neo-fascist political organization in Serbia, that identifies as an animal rights organization. It is led by Pavle Bihali.
History
It was formed in 201 ...
.
Switzerland
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
has long been known for its neutrality in international politics. Swiss voters rejected EEA membership in 1992, and EU membership in 2001. Despite the passing of several referendums calling for closer relations between Switzerland and the European Union such as the adoption of bilateral treaties and the joining of the
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
, a second referendum of the joining of the EEA or the EU is not expected, and the general public remains opposed to joining.
In February 2014, the Swiss voters narrowly approved a referendum limiting the freedom of movement of EU citizens to Switzerland.
Eurosceptic political parties include the
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...
Federal Democratic Union
The Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (German: ''Eidgenössisch-Demokratische Union'', EDU; French: ''Union Démocratique Fédérale'', UDF; Italian: ''Unione Democratica Federale'', UDF; Romansch: ''Uniun Democrata Federala'', UDF) is a na ...
, the Ticino League, and the Geneva Citizens' Movement, all of which are considered right-wing parties.
In addition, the Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland is a political organisation in Switzerland that is strongly opposed to Swiss membership of or further integration otherwise with the European Union.
Regionally, the German-speaking majority as well as the Italian-speaking areas are the most Eurosceptic, while
French-speaking Switzerland
Romandy (french: Romandie or )Before World War I, the term French Switzerland (french: Suisse française) waalso used german: Romandie or , it, Romandia, rm, Romanda) is the French-speaking part of western Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 milli ...
tends to be more pro-European integration. In the 2001 referendum, the majority of French-speakers voted against EU membership. According to a 2016 survey conducted by M.I.S Trend and published in '' L'Hebdo'', 69 percent of the Swiss population supports systematic border controls, and 53 percent want restrictions on the EU accord of the free movements of peoples and 14 percent want it completely abolished. 54% of the Swiss population said that if necessary, they would ultimately keep the freedom of movement of people's accord.
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
ist party, which has no seats in the Parliament, as it only secured 0.7% of the votes in the last election, far below the 10% threshold necessary to be represented in the Parliament.
Many left-wing nationalist and far-left parties hold no seats at parliament but they control many activist and student movements in Turkey. The Patriotic Party (formerly called Workers' Party) consider the European Union as a front-runner of global imperialism.
Founded on 26 August 2021 under the leadership of Ümit Özdağ, Victory Party (Turkey) is a Turkish nationalist and anti-immigrant political party. It is represented by two deputies in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. "The European Union does not want to negotiate with Turkey. We will not humiliate Turkey anymore." Özdağ said.
Ukraine
Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are
Opposition Platform – For Life
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* Opposition (Altars EP), ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night tel ...
,
Opposition Bloc
russian: Оппозиционный блок
, colorcode =
, logo = Opposition Bloc.png
, logo_size = 240px
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Rinat Akhmetov (one wing)Dmytro Firtash & Yuriy Boyko ( ...
,
Party of Shariy
Party of Shariy ( uk, Партія Шарія, russian: Партия Шария, PSh) is a banned political party in Ukraine founded by political blogger Anatoly Shariy. Its official proclaimed ideology is libertarianism.Right Sector.
The far-right Ukrainian group Right Sector opposes joining the European Union. It regards the EU as an " oppressor" of European nations.
In the 2019 parliamentary election the
Opposition Platform – For Life
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* Opposition (Altars EP), ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night tel ...
won 37 seats on the nationwide party list and 6 constituency seats.
The leader of the
Party of Shariy
Party of Shariy ( uk, Партія Шарія, russian: Партия Шария, PSh) is a banned political party in Ukraine founded by political blogger Anatoly Shariy. Its official proclaimed ideology is libertarianism.Viktor Medvedchuk, whom Ukraine's special services suspect of financing terrorism.
United Kingdom
Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom has been a significant element in British politics ever since the inception of the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
(EEC), the predecessor to the EU. The European Union strongly divides the British public, political parties, media and civil society.
The UK Independence Party has backed the idea of the UK unilaterally leaving the European Union ( Brexit) since its foundation in 1993. During the 23 June 2016 referendum on the issue, whilst the Conservatives had no official position, although its leader
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
was in favour of remaining in the EU albeit after some renegotiation of the terms of membership, the party remained profoundly split, as it always had been. The Labour Party officially supported remaining in the EU, although party leader Jeremy Corbyn did suggest early on in the campaign that he would consider withdrawal, a position he had personally advocated from the far left for many years, in fact throughout his period as a Labour MP. The Liberal Democrats were the most adamantly pro-EU party, and since the referendum, pro-Europeanism has been their main policy.
The referendum resulted in an overall vote to leave the EU, as opposed to remaining an EU member, by 51.9% to 48.1%, on a turnout of 72.2%. The vote was split between the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, with a majority in England and Wales voting to leave, and a majority in Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
(a
British Overseas Territory
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
, the Brexit Party topped the national poll by a large margin with 31.7% gaining 29 seats by running on a single policy of leaving the EU, versus the second-placed Liberal Democrats with 18.5% and 16 seats who promoted themselves as the party of Remain (the total vote for Remain-supporting parties was approximately the same as that for parties supporting a 'no-deal' Brexit). The Conservative Party suffered their lowest ever national vote share of 9.1% with just 4 seats following 3 years of Theresa May's unsuccessful Brexit negotiations. The Labour Party's ambiguous position on Brexit led to their vote share dropping significantly to 14.1% resulting in the loss of half their seats, down from 20 to 10. The rapid growth of the Brexit Party was a contributing factor to Theresa May announcing on 24 May that she would step down as Prime Minister on 7 June 2019. After the elections, the Eurosceptic Blue Collar Conservative caucus of Conservative MPs was formed.
Historically, the Conservative Party has expressed divided sentiments on the issue of EU membership, with the official stance changing with party leadership and individual MPs within the party variously favouring total withdrawal and remaining in the EU, while others adopted a position of soft Euroscepticism being supportive of membership but opposed to joining the eurozone and pursuing further integration. Until the 1980s, the Conservative Party was somewhat more pro-EU than the Labour Party: for example, in the 1971 House of Commons vote on whether the UK should join the European Economic Community, only 39 of the then 330 Conservative MPs were opposed to membership. When Margaret Thatcher came into power in 1979, the Conservative parties view on the EU saw a big shift from supporting the EU to becoming skeptical, thus campaigning against increasing its powers. Thatcher was seen as the "spiritual mother" of Euroscepticism and was one of the most important Eurosceptic voices in the United Kingdom, ultimately changing the Conservative parties view on the EU throughout the 1980s. In 2009 the Conservative Party actively campaigned against the Lisbon Treaty, which it believes would give away too much sovereignty to Brussels. Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague stated that, should the treaty be in force by the time of an incoming Conservative government, he would "not let matters rest there". Following the election of Boris Johnson as leader in 2019, the Conservative Party became a strong supporter of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and its platform was changed to unanimously support EU withdrawal. In the 2019 general election the Conservative Party adopted a clear pro-Brexit platform in its manifesto.
Although often associated with being a cause on the right in the twenty-first century with the contemporary Labour Party supporting EU membership, there have been notable Eurosceptic politicians on the left of British politics, such as former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn who held a longstanding opposition to British membership of the EU throughout his career. Other Labour MPs who have supported eurosceptic sentiments and British withdrawal have included Kate Hoey, Frank Field,
Graham Stringer
Graham Eric Stringer (born 17 February 1950) is a British Labour Party politician serving as MP for Blackley and Broughton since 1997. Before entering Parliament, he served as leader of Manchester City Council from 1984 to 1996, and chair of ...
George Galloway
George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...
and socialist politician and trade unionist Arthur Scargill who both endorsed Britain's exit from the European Union.
On 23 January 2020, the Parliament of the United Kingdom ratified a withdrawal agreement from the European Union, which was ratified by the EU Parliament on 30 January. On 31 January, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union after 47 years. During a transition period until 31 December 2020, the UK still followed EU rules and continued free trade and free movement for people within the European Union.
European Referendum Campaign
The European Referendum Campaign (ERC) was an independent, Europe-wide, cross party network of NGOs and individuals which intended to bring together campaigners to fight for democratic development within the European Union. Its sole objective w ...
Globalisation
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
*
Institutions of the European Union
The institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and the Euratom. They are, as listed in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union:
* the European Parliament,
* the European Counci ...
Subsidiarity
Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsidi ...