A Critical Assessment of a Eurosceptic Party Group on European Integration: A Case Study of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group

• Published in: Baltic journal of European studies Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 97 - 118
• Main Author: Akbaba, Sertan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter Open 01.06.2014; Sciendo
• Subjects: European Conservatives and Reformists; European integration; European Parliament; Euroscepticism; party politics
• ISSN: 2228-0596; 2228-0596
• DOI: 10.2478/bjes-2014-0006

The article explores Euroscepticism and the way it is utilized within the politics of Europe, analyzed upon evidence from a Eurosceptic Euro-party located in the European Parliament, namely the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR). The aim of this article is to clarify that the selected party> disproves the argument of EU- criticism being an unfavourable condition, and, more importantly, its contribution to the political contestation in the EU. For such an assessment, a survey of the party> manifesto, party working documents, as well as the discourses of the Member of the European Parliament (MEPs) will be analyzed, and the concept of Euroscepticism will be once again in the centre of this analysis. This argument is evaluated based on the transnational-level analysis of the aforementioned party, focusing primarily on three specific issues-the democratic deficit, the issue of sovereignty and anti-immigration rhetoric.