Eurosceptic

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Euroscepticism is opposition to the European Union (EU) and the process of European integration. It includes opposition to the euro, to the institutions of the EU, to European bureaucracy, to expansion of the EU, and to some existing memberships. The term Eurosceptic includes a very wide range of positions: from mainstream political parties which accept the EU but want to modify its structure, to those who see the EU as a wholly malevolent entity which must be destroyed. These positions might be labelled "soft" and "hard," or "moderate" and "extreme," but there are no official labels. In fact there is no official Euroscepticism at all, no central organization, no leaders, and no official ideology.

Euroscepticism is found on both sides of the political spectrum, usually combined with some form of nationalism. Mainstream politicians usually want the terms of their own countries' membership revised in the national interest. Left-wing Eurosceptic groups oppose it as a capitalist entity, while others, mainly on the right, believe that the EU is deliberately destroying their own nation, its sovereignty, and its culture, and reject the EU entirely. Euroscepticism is a feature of some wingnut conspiracy theories, such as Eurabia, and crazier Eurosceptics often use the acronym EUSSR, and images of the EU flag modified to look like the Soviet flag:

Oh noes!

[edit] Eurosceptic parties

In the United Kingdom, the Conservative party typically supports a "soft" Eurosceptic position of continued EU membership but with no further powers being passed to it, although many of its members would prefer that the EU return to a simple trade community along the lines of the old European Economic Community (EEC).[1] This is probably due to the their dissaffection towards the € throughout the eurozone crisis. The UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the British National Party (BNP) support total withdrawal from the EU - a "hard" Eurosceptic position.[2][3] Not shocking why.

Most populist parties in Europe are Eurosceptic. In the European Parliament itself, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy[4] group represents the "hard" position, and has members from 7 countries, but its largest parties are the UK's UKIP and Italy's Five Star Movement[wp].[5] The EFDD has so far been the most stable of the "hard" EP groups, having survived for more than a single 5-year EP term. Former groups of a similar type have had a tendency to fall apart as their national populist parties had little or nothing in common beyond their opposition to the EU. In contrast to the EFDD, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group advocates a "soft" position, with members from 15 countries, but the bulk of its members are either British Conservatives of from Poland's Law and Justice[wp] party.[6]

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. Conservative Party - Europe
  2. UKIP- What We Stand For
  3. BNP - Foreign Affairs
  4. Before the 2014 EP elections the group was simply called Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy[wp] and had fewer MEPs (34) than the EFDD (47), but from more countries (9 as opposed to 7).
  5. The 7 parties constituting the EFDD.
  6. About the ECR Group, from the ECR website. See also its own Brief History of the ECR Group. The ECR changed markedly after the 2014 EP elections as it was joined by several new parties, such as the Danish People's Party (which defected from the EFD/EFDD group).
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