Sofia Vasilopoulou - Far Right Parties and Euroscepticism: Patterns of Opposition

Far Right Parties and Euroscepticism

Patterns of Opposition

Sofia Vasilopoulou

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Copyright 2018 by Sofia Vasilopoulou

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: HB: 978-1-78552-229-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Vasilopoulou, Sofia, author.

Title: Far right parties and Euroscepticism: patterns of opposition / by Sofia Vasilopoulou.

Description: London; Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield International, Ltd., [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2017030057 (print) | LCCN 2017045658 (ebook) | ISBN 9781786605269 (Electronic) | ISBN 9781785522291 (hb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781786605269 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Political partiesEuropean Union countries. | Right-wing extremistsEuropean Union countries. | European UnionPublic opinion. | Public opinionEuropean Union countries. | European UnionMembership. | European Union countriesPolitics and government21st century.

Classification: LCC JN50 (ebook) | LCC JN50 .V37 2017 (print) | DDC 341.242/2dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017030057

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

This book began as a doctoral dissertation at the London School of Economics. I am most grateful to Kevin Featherstone for challenging my ideas, and Jonathan Hopkin for supporting me throughout this period. The University of York has provided an excellent working environment that has facilitated the completion of this book.

This project has benefited from the guidance of many people. I would like to thank Michael Bruter, Willem Buiter, Liz Carter, Simon Hix, Bob Hancke, Kostas Gemenis, Simon Glendinning, Peter Mair, Paul Mitchell, Thomas Poguntke, Waltraud Schelkle, Tim Vlandas and the anonymous reviewer at ECPR Press. For research assistance, I thank Adriano Cozzolino, Nikoleta Kiapidou, Leyla Slama and Liisa Talving.

The research for this book was made possible by financial support from the Bodossakis Foundation, Greece. This book also benefited from a British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant entitled Radical right-wing parties and Euroscepticism: Issue salience in MEP speeches (Ref: SG132583).

Material from Chapter 2 has been previously published in Vasilopoulou, S. (2011) European Integration and the Radical Right: Three Patterns of Opposition, Government and Opposition , Volume 46(2), 223244. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of Cambridge University Press.

I am especially grateful to my friends and colleagues Katjana Gattermann and Daphne Halikiopoulou, who push me to think critically and have helped me develop into the researcher I am.

I thank my parents, George and Ria, and my aunt, Mosha, for believing in me and supporting my academic pursuits. My deepest thanks go to my husband, Matt, for his love, encouragement and unfailing support during this long journey. I dedicate this book to him and to the memory of my father.

The European Union (EU) is a major political and economic achievement in postWorld War II Europe, created to guarantee the stability, growth and prosperity of its members. Over the past decades, it has expanded its jurisdictional authority over a number of key policy areas, including the single market, trade, the euro currency, justice, fundamental rights and citizenship. However, increased economic and political integration have produced growing party and public opposition. Euroscepticism, a term used to describe the disapproval of and opposition to closer European integration, has become an embedded feature of both national and EU politics with the potential to cause irreparable damage to the EUs quest for legitimacy and stability (Usherwood and Startin 2013: 2). The EUs failure to promptly resolve the Eurozone and migration crises has further eroded the projects credibility and has strengthened anti-EU sentiment among European citizens. Trust in the EU was at a record low at 33 per cent in 2016 compared to 57 per cent in 2007 (Eurobarometer 2016).

Within this ever-growing environment of constraining dissensus (Hooghe and Marks 2009), the strongest advocates of Eurosceptic views may be found within the far right party family (Vasilopoulou 2011). Far right parties perceive the EU as posing a threat to nation-states cultural homogeneity and national sovereignty. The EUs supranational decision-making structures, its global outlook and its promotion of cultural diversity go against the far rights mission of defending the nation (Halikiopoulou et al. 2012; see also Marks and Wilson 2000; Hooghe et al. 2002). Far right parties are also ideally placed to oppose the EU. Their marginal position in their domestic party systems provides them with additional incentives to criticise the EU (e.g. Taggart 1998; Sitter 2001). Indeed, Hainsworth (2008: 85) argues that [these parties] are well placed to act as the voice of popular opposition and protest against developments declared to be anti-national. In short, by virtue of their nationalist ideology and marginal status, far right parties across Europe put forward similar Eurosceptic positions, i.e., they oppose the entire process of European integration. These parties are distinguished by their intense Euro-phobia (Marks and Wilson 2000: 457).