Introduction: Euroscepticism, from the margins to the mainstream
| Published date | 01 June 2015 |
| Date | 01 June 2015 |
| Author | Nicholas Startin,Nathalie Brack |
| DOI | 10.1177/0192512115577231 |
| Subject Matter | Introduction |
International Political Science Review
2015, Vol. 36(3) 239 –249
© The Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512115577231
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Introduction: Euroscepticism, from
the margins to the mainstream
Nathalie Brack
Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Nicholas Startin
University of Bath, UK
Abstract
With the advent of the Eurozone crisis, Euroscepticism has become increasingly mainstreamed. This is
discernible across Europe at the level of public opinion, among political parties and civil society groups,
within the EU institutions themselves and in terms of changing and more challenging media discourses.
Against the backdrop of the 2014 European elections and a potential referendum on UK membership of the
EU, the purpose of this article is to introduce an evolving debate. It begins with discussion of the ‘state of the
art’ with regard to the study of Euroscepticism, before focusing on the significance of the latest European
elections themselves. It then provides an overview of the various articles in the collection, explaining their
relevance in helping to unravel the complexity and diversity of opposition towards ‘Europe’ and the extent
to which Euroscepticism has become part of the mainstream with regard to European political debate.
Keywords
Euroscepticism, radical left, radical right, European integration, EP elections
The term ‘Eurosceptic’ can be traced back to the mid-1980s in the UK and, in its simplest form,
refers to someone who is opposed to the powers of the European Union (EU). Prior to the 1992
Maastricht Treaty it was largely confined to the margins. However, as the EU has evolved and
its competences have increased, developments such as the advent of the euro, the ‘big bang’
enlargement of 2004, the failed European Constitution and the subsequent Lisbon Treaty have
placed progressive strain on the so-called ‘permissive consensus’. More recently, with the advent
of the Eurozone crisis, Euroscepticism has become increasingly ‘embedded’ within European
nation states (Usherwood and Startin, 2013), placing Europe’s elites under increasing pressure
Corresponding author:
Nathalie Brack, FRS-FNRS Research Fellow, CEVIPOL, Université libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50 CP 124,
Brussels, 1050, Belgium.
Email: nbrack@ulb.ac.be
577231IPS0010.1177/0192512115577231International Political Science ReviewBrack and Startin
research-article2015
Introduction
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