Euroscepticism in Southern Europe

Description

The 2005 referenda in France and the Netherlands underlined the growing legitimacy problems of the European Union, by signaling serious public dissatisfaction with the current direction of European integration. In the aftermath of the constitutional debacle, an examination of the origins, evolution and prospects of opposition to the European integration project appears particularly timely.

As a laboratory for the study of attitudes towards European integration, Southern Europe offers a particularly rich range of case studies, including a founder member (Italy), three ‘second generation’ states (Greece, Spain and Portugal), two recent entrants (Cyprus and Malta) and a negotiating candidate (Turkey). In addition, all seven states have been closely linked to the integration project since the era of the European Community, with four members of this group being the first states to sign Association Agreements with the European Community in the 1960s and 1970s. Southern Europe also covers the spectrum in terms of size, including large, medium and small states.

The volume traces the evolution of euroscepticism in each South European country, assessing its significance and highlighting both continuity and change. Covering both elite\party and popular euroscepticism, the volume illuminates the factors which have shaped opposition to integration and the form and content which it has assumed in each country.

This book was published as a special issue of South European Society & Politics.

Contents

1. Is there a South European Euroscepticism? Susannah Verney 2. The Ebb and Flow of Euroscepticism in Italy Lucia Quaglia 3. From the Mainstream to the Margins: Euroscepticism in Greece Susannah Verney 4. Euroscepticism in Portugal: Party and Mass Perspectives Marina Costa Lobo and Pedro Magalhães 5. Spain: Euroscepticism in a Pro-European Country Antonia M. Ruiz Jiménez and Alfonso Egea de Haro 6. Towards a Framework of Analysis for Euroscepticism: The Case of Cyprus Kalliope Agapiou-Josephides 7. Maltese Euroscepticism Roderick Pace 8. Euroscepticism in Turkey in Comparitive Perspective Hakan Yilmaz

Author Bio

Susannah Verney is Lecturer in European Studies at the University of Athens and has also held Visiting Fellowships at the Universities of Bristol and Bradford. She is Editor of South European Society & Politics (since 1999) and former Associate Editor of The Journal of Modern Greek Studies (2000-2002).

Related Subjects

1. Peacekeeping
2. European Politics
3. European Union Politics
4. American Politics
5. Italian Politics