National political elites, the EU, and the populist challenge

Abstract

For several years, the European Union (EU) has faced two major crises at the same time – a global financial crisis that spilled over to the Eurozone countries and an immigration crisis. Those countries more negatively affected complain that the EU is ineffective in providing solutions, while better-off countries are reluctant to share the costs of the most exposed countries. In this critical context, radical populist parties have had specific incentives to offer extreme policy stances on the EU, signalling clear Eurosceptical positions as a means of breaking into the electoral market; their stance is now represented in the national parliament of many member states. The article examines the attitudes of national political elites towards the EU. It shows that the feelings towards the EU have largely survived acute changes (induced by the crises or changes to elite composition). Although Euroscepticism is a growing phenomenon within society and party systems, it is less on the rise among the elites holding public office. However, due to the unprecedented success of radical populist parties in some countries, Euroscepticism is now on the rise, also among this segment of elites, and some limited signs of contagion to the mainstream are already visible.