Radical Right and Radical Left Euroscepticism. A Dynamic Phenomenon

摘要

Euroscepticism is often regarded as a monolithic, unitary political phenomenon. After all, Eurosceptic parties,udmovements and voters are united in voicing their opposition to European integration. This, however, is audserious misconception: Eurosceptic politics in Western Europe is heterogeneous and dynamic—both amongudpolitical parties and among voters.udThere is significant variation regarding the motivations to reject the European Union (EU). Radical leftudEurosceptic parties oppose the EU on the basis of socio-economic concerns. Radical right parties rejectudEU integration on the basis of sovereignty arguments and cultural claims. Moreover, political parties’udEuroscepticism is by no means static. Although radical right parties are the most forceful political opponentsudof the EU today, a number of significant radical right parties initially supported European unification.udCrucially, these ideological and temporal variations in Euroscepticism are not solely party-driven. Also votersudoppose European integration for different ideological reasons and that the extent to which voters on the far leftudand far right have opposed the EU has varied over time. In particular, the era of political integration heraldedudby the Maastricht Treaty (1992) marked a decisive shift for radical right Euroscepticism—as the opposition toudthe EU significantly increased among far right voters since the Maastricht Treaty.udWhat is more, the impact of Eurosceptic political parties on European Union politics is also heterogeneousudand dynamic. The presence and success of Eurosceptic parties can have profound repercussion for the waysudin which political parties with governing experience deal with the issue of European integration. The electoraludsuccess of Eurosceptic parties and the emphasis on the EU issue by the radical right and the radical left hasudresulted in strategic responses from mainstream parties. This suggests that Euroscepticism does not onlyudmatter in extreme cases—such as in the case of Brexit, but has a profound impact on the functioning of EUudpolitics, both within member states and in Brussels.udNevertheless, despite mounting evidence of certain responsiveness of mainstream parties and member stateudgovernments to Euroscepticism, a disconnect between domestic political contestation and EU decision-makingudremains. This hampers an effective response to Eurosceptic politics and potentially stifles meaningful politicaludcontestation over EU integration.