Euroscepticism As a Transnational and Pan-European Phenomenon ─ The Emergence of a New Sphere of Opposition

Euroscepticism continues to become an increasingly embedded phenomenon within party systems, non-party groups, at the level of public opinion and within the media as the EU enters an uncertain phase. Yet, academic literature has paid little attention to the emergence of, and increased development of, transnational and pan-European networks of EU opposition. As the ‘gap’ between Europe’s mainstream political elites and an increasingly sceptical public has widened, pan-European spheres of opposition towards the EU have developed and evolved.

The volume sets out to explain how such an innately contradictory phenomenon as transnational Euroscepticism has emerged. It draws on a variety of perspectives and case-studies in a number of spheres – the EP, political parties, the media, civil society and public opinion. Examining to what extent the pan-European dimension of Euroscepticism is becoming increasingly influential, it argues that opposition to European integration has for too long been viewed somewhat narrowly, through the paradigm of national party politics.

This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and professionals in EU Politics, European Studies, Political Parties, and more broadly to comparative politics and international relations.

Dr Nick Startin’s research focuses on the Far Right in Contemporary Europe and on the impact of Euroscepticism on nation states (with a particular emphasis on the French case). His PhD in Politics was awarded by Brunel University. He also gained an M.Phil in French Studies from Birmingham University and a PGCE from the University of Warwick. He lectured for a decade in French, European Studies and Politics at the University of the West of England in Bristol. He was awarded the 2008 Political Studies Association (PSA) 'Vincent Wright Prize' for the best research paper on French Politics and in the same year was nominated PSA’s' Bernard Crick Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award'. In 2011 he co-founded the thriving University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) research network on Euroscepticism, and co-edited the special issue of the Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS) entitled ‘Confronting Euroscepticism’.

John Fitzgibbon is Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University. Previously he was Lecturer in European Politics at the University of Dundee, and in International Relations at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He received his ESRC+3 funded DPhil in Comparative European Politics from the University of Sussex in 2012. The title of his thesis was "Eurosceptic Protest Movements: A Comparative Analysis Between Ireland, the UK, Estonia and Denmark". He worked as a tutor in Compartive, European and US politics at the University of Sussex between 2007 and 2011.

Benjamin Leruth is a Teaching Fellow in French Politics and Society at the University of Bath. He completed his PhD in Politics at the University of Edinburgh in June 2014. In addition, he holds a LL.M. in European Law from the University of Kent and a BA in Political Science from the University of Namur (Belgium).