The vote share for anti-EU parties has more than doubled in two decades, according to research conducted by academic experts in populism.
The study found that since 1992, the first year in which there were free and fair elections in every country currently a member of the bloc, combined support for European far-right, far-left and other Eurosceptic parties has surged from 15% to almost 35%.
One of the researchers, Matthijs Rooduijn, a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, said: “European leaders who support the EU integration process can absolutely not afford to sit back and be complacent. Eurosceptic parties are very much thriving and it is unlikely that this is going to change anytime soon.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The study, published in The Guardian, says there were three spikes in support for Euroscepticism in the period it covered.
Anti-EU sentiment first started climbing in 2005, due to a sharp Eurosceptic turn taken by Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party. There was another major rise in 2010 when Hungary’s Fidesz – “the future of Europe” - went fully against European integration.
The third jump came in 2013, with the emergence of the Five Star Movement (M5S) in Italy, followed by the growth in popularity of Alternative fur Deutschland in Germany and Podemos in Spain.
Last month, Marine Le Pen warned the European Union that the eurosceptic movement is now “very powerful” and urged EU member states to join forces to “abandon” the failing union for a new form of independent “cooperation”.
However, several studies have shown that public opinion of the EU has, on average, become more positive in the last four years.
The Guardian says this trend reflects “mounting uncertainties caused by the upheaval of Britain’s Brexit vote and the election in the US of Donald Trump, who has made no secret of his hostility towards the EU”.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues for £6–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
-
Will AI kill the smartphone?In The Spotlight OpenAI and Meta want to unseat the ‘Lennon and McCartney’ of the gadget era
-
Must-see bookshops around the UKThe Week Recommends Lose yourself in beautiful surroundings, whiling away the hours looking for a good book
-
A Nipah virus outbreak in India has brought back Covid-era surveillanceUnder the radar The disease can spread through animals and humans
-
Grok in the crosshairs as EU launches deepfake porn probeIN THE SPOTLIGHT The European Union has officially begun investigating Elon Musk’s proprietary AI, as regulators zero in on Grok’s porn problem and its impact continent-wide
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Europe moves troops to Greenland as Trump fixatesSpeed Read Foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark met at the White House yesterday
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
