Catherine E. de Vries: Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is facing one of the rockiest periods in itsexistence. At no time in its history has it looked so economically fragile, soinsecure about how to protect its borders, so divided over how to tackle thecrisis of legitimacy facing its institutions, and so under assault byEurosceptic parties. The unprecedented levels of integration in recentdecades have led to increased public contestation, yet at the same the EU ismore reliant on public support for its continued legitimacy than everbefore. This book examines the role of public opinion in the Europeanintegration process. It develops a novel theory of public opinion thatstresses the deep interconnectedness between people’s views aboutEuropean and national politics. It suggests that public opinion cannotsimply be characterized as either Eurosceptic or not, but rather that itconsists of different types. This is important because these types coincidewith fundamentally different views about the way the EU should bereformed and which policy priorities should be pursued. These types alsohave very different consequences for behaviour in elections andreferendums. Euroscepticism is such a diverse phenomenon because theEurozone crisis has exacerbated the structural imbalances within the EU. Asthe economic and political fates of member states have diverged, people’sexperiences with and evaluations of the EU and national political systemshave also grown further apart. The heterogeneity in public preferences thatthis book has uncovered makes a one-size-fits-all approach to addressingEuroscepticism unlikely to be successful.