Body of criticism of the European Union
This article is about opposition to or scepticism on the European Union. For negative sentiment towards people of European descent, see
Anti-Europeanism .
Percentage responding that their country on balance benefited from being a member of the EU at Eurobarometer 2023:[ 1] 91–100%
81–90%
71–80%
61–70%
51–60%
Euroscepticism , also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism ,[ 2] [ 3] [ 4] is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration . 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 ).[ 5] [ 6] [ 7] The opposite of Euroscepticism is known as pro-Europeanism .
The main drivers of Euroscepticism have been beliefs that integration undermines national sovereignty and the nation state , that the EU is elitist and lacks democratic legitimacy and transparency , that it is too bureaucratic and wasteful,[ 10] [ 11] that it encourages high levels of immigration , or perceptions that it is a neoliberal organisation serving the big business elite at the expense of the working class , that it is responsible for austerity , and drives privatization .[ 13]
Euroscepticism is found in groups across the political spectrum , both left-wing and right-wing , and is often found in populist parties.[ 14] 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 ,[ 13] [ 15] [ 17] while Eurosceptic right-wing populists focus more on nationalism and immigration, such as the 2015 European migrant crisis .[ 18] The rise in radical-right parties since the 2000s is strongly linked to a rise in Euroscepticism.[ 19]
Eurobarometer surveys of EU citizens show that trust in the EU and its institutions declined strongly from 2007 to 2015.[ 20] In that period, it was consistently below 50%.[ 21] A 2009 survey showed that support for EU membership was lowest in the United Kingdom (UK), Latvia , and Hungary .[ 22] By 2016, the countries viewing the EU most unfavourably were the UK, Greece , France , and Spain .[ 23] The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum 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.[ 24] 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%.[ 25] Trust in the EU had increased significantly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with levels varying across member states.[ 26] [ 27]
^ "Socio-demographic trends in national public opinion" . europarl.europa.eu . October 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023 .
^ "EU-Scepticism vs. Euroscepticism. Re-assessing the Party Positions in the Accession Countries towards EU Membership" in Laursen, Finn (ed.) EU Enlargement: Current Challenges and Strategic Choices, Bruxelles: Peter Lang.
^ Kirk, Lisbeth (22 June 2011). "EU scepticism threatens European integration" . EU Observer . Retrieved 1 February 2016 .
^ Therése Hultén "Swedish EU-Scepticism: How is it Compatible with the Support for Enlargement?"
^ "Marine Le Pen's Real Victory" . The Atlantic , 7 May 2017.
^ Erkanor Saka (2009). Mediating the EU: Deciphering the Transformation of Turkish Elites (PhD Thesis) . p. 202. ISBN 978-1109216639 . Retrieved 9 March 2016 . [permanent dead link ]
^ Matthew (26 October 2011). "Why anti-EUism is not left-wing" . Workers' Liberty . Alliance for Workers Liberty . Retrieved 31 January 2016 .
^ Kopel, David, Silencing opposition in the EU , Davekopel.org, archived from the original on 29 December 2016, retrieved 18 February 2015
^ Hannan, Daniel (14 November 2007). "Why aren't we shocked by a corrupt EU?" . The Daily Telegraph . London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2010 . (Op-Ed
^ a b Jones, Owen (14 July 2015). "The left must put Britain's EU withdrawal on the agenda" . The Guardian . ISSN 0261-3077 . (Op-Ed )
^ Fortunato, Piergiuseppe; Pecoraro, Marco (2022). "Social media, education, and the rise of populist Euroscepticism" . Humanities and Social Sciences Communications . 9 (1): 301. doi :10.1057/s41599-022-01317-y . PMC 9428866 . PMID 36065426 .
^ Carden, Edward (2 November 2015). "Party like it's 1975: how the Left got Eurosceptic all over again" . New Statesman .
^ Pirro, Andrea LP; Taggart, Paul; Kessel, Stijn van (4 July 2018). "The populist politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: Comparative conclusions" (PDF) . Politics . 38 (3): 378–390. doi :10.1177/0263395718784704 . S2CID 149472625 .
^ Hobolt, Sara. "The Crisis of Legitimacy of European Institutions", in Europe's Crises . John Wiley & Sons, 2018. p.256
^ Han Werts, Marcel Lubbers, and Peer Scheepers (2013) Euro-scepticism and radical right-wing voting in Europe, 2002–2008: Social cleavages, socio-political attitudes and contextual characteristics determining voting for the radical right Archived 5 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine , European Union Politics, vol. 14 no. 2: 183–205.
^ Cite error: The named reference Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Trust in EU
was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).
^ Spring 2015 Standard Eurobarometer: Citizens see immigration as top challenge for EU to tackle . European Commission . 31 July 2015.
^ "Standard Eurobarometer 71 (fieldwork June–July 2009)" (PDF) . European Commission . September 2009. pp. 91–3. Retrieved 26 November 2009 .
^ Wright, Oliver (7 June 2016), "Euroscepticism on the rise across Europe as analysis finds increasing opposition to the EU in France, Germany and Spain" , The Independent , retrieved 1 August 2016
^ "European spring – Trust in the EU and democracy is recovering" . Bruegel.org . 4 May 2023.
^ "Closer to the Citizens, Closer to the Ballot" . Closer to the Citizens, Closer to the Ballot . Retrieved 15 August 2019 .
^ "Living, working and COVID-19 data" . Eurofound . Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022 .
^ "Trust has increased in EU but dropped in national governments: Survey" . Politico . 28 September 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2022 .