View source for Euroscepticism

{{Short description|Body of criticism of the European Union}}
{{About|opposition to or scepticism on the European Union|negative sentiment towards people of European descent|Anti-Europeanism}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{politics of the European Union}}

'''Euroscepticism''', also spelled as '''Euroskepticism''' or '''EU-scepticism''',<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/4777805/_EU-Scepticism_vs._Euroscepticism._Re-assessing_the_Party_Positions_in_the_Accession_Countries_towards_EU_Membership_in_Laursen_Finn_ed._EU_Enlargement_Current_Challenges_and_Strategic_Choices_Bruxelles_Peter_Lang "EU-Scepticism vs. Euroscepticism. Re-assessing the Party Positions in the Accession Countries towards EU Membership"] in Laursen, Finn (ed.) EU Enlargement: Current Challenges and Strategic Choices, Bruxelles: Peter Lang.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Kirk|first1=Lisbeth|title=EU scepticism threatens European integration|url=https://euobserver.com/news/2731|access-date=1 February 2016|work=EU Observer|date=22 June 2011}}</ref><ref>Therése Hultén [http://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/23685748/15Hultnfinal.pdf "Swedish EU-Scepticism: How is it Compatible with the Support for Enlargement?"]</ref> is a political position involving criticism of the [[European Union]] (EU) and [[European integration]]. It ranges from those who oppose some [[EU institutions]] and policies and seek reform (''Eurorealism'', ''Eurocritical'', or ''[[soft Euroscepticism]]''), to those who oppose [[EU membership]] and see the EU as unreformable (''anti-European Unionism'', ''anti-EUism'', or ''[[hard Euroscepticism]]'').<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/05/le-pen-national-front-macron-france-election/525759/ "Marine Le Pen's Real Victory"]. ''[[The Atlantic]]'', 7 May 2017.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Erkanor Saka|title=Mediating the EU: Deciphering the Transformation of Turkish Elites (PhD Thesis)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hy77juW0DNQC&pg=PA202|access-date=9 March 2016|year=2009|isbn=978-1109216639|page=202}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Matthew|title=Why anti-EUism is not left-wing|url=http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/10/26/why-anti-euism-not-left-wing|website=Workers' Liberty|publisher=[[Alliance for Workers' Liberty]]|access-date=31 January 2016|date=26 October 2011}}</ref> The opposite of Euroscepticism is known as ''[[pro-Europeanism]]''.

The main drivers of Euroscepticism have been beliefs that integration undermines national [[sovereignty]] and the [[nation state]],{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}}{{sfnp|Alibert|2015}} that the EU is [[elitist]] and [[Democratic deficit in the European Union|lacks democratic legitimacy]] and [[Transparency (behavior)|transparency]],{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}}{{sfnp|Alibert|2015}} that it is too [[bureaucratic]] and wasteful,{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}}<ref name="Kopel-2015">{{citation | first = David | last = Kopel | url = http://www.davekopel.org/Media/Mags/SilencingOppositionInTheEU.htm | publisher = Davekopel.org | access-date = 18 February 2015 | title = Silencing opposition in the EU | archive-date = 29 December 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161229163504/http://www.davekopel.org/Media/Mags/SilencingOppositionInTheEU.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name="Hannan-2007">{{cite news| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3644012/Why-arent-we-shocked-by-a-corrupt-EU.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3644012/Why-arent-we-shocked-by-a-corrupt-EU.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Why aren't we shocked by a corrupt EU? | first=Daniel | last=Hannan | date=14 November 2007 | access-date=2 May 2010}}{{cbignore}}([[Op-Ed]]</ref> that it encourages high levels of [[immigration]],{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}} or perceptions that it is a [[neoliberal]] organisation serving the [[big business]] elite at the expense of the [[working class]],{{sfnp|FitzGibbon|Leruth|Startin|2016|p=133}} that it is responsible for [[austerity]],{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}} and drives [[privatization]].<ref name="jones">{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Owen |author-link=Owen Jones |date=14 July 2015 |title=The left must put Britain's EU withdrawal on the agenda |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/14/left-reject-eu-greece-eurosceptic |issn=0261-3077}} ([[Op-Ed]])</ref>

Euroscepticism is found in groups across the [[political spectrum]], both [[left-wing]] and [[right-wing]], and is often found in [[populist]] parties.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fortunato |first1=Piergiuseppe |last2=Pecoraro |first2=Marco |title=Social media, education, and the rise of populist Euroscepticism |journal=[[Humanities and Social Sciences Communications]] |date=2022 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=301 |doi=10.1057/s41599-022-01317-y |pmid=36065426 |pmc=9428866 |doi-access=free}}</ref>{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}} Although they criticise the EU for many of the same reasons, Eurosceptic [[left-wing populists]] focus more on economic issues, such as the [[European debt crisis]] and the [[Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership]],<ref name="jones"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/11/party-its-1975-how-left-got-eurosceptic-all-over-again|title=Party like it's 1975: how the Left got Eurosceptic all over again|last=Carden|first=Edward|date=2 November 2015|work=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref>{{sfnp|FitzGibbon|Leruth|Startin|2016|p=105}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pirro|first1=Andrea LP|last2=Taggart|first2=Paul|last3=Kessel|first3=Stijn van|date=4 July 2018|title=The populist politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: Comparative conclusions|journal=Politics|volume=38|issue=3|pages=378–390|language=en|doi=10.1177/0263395718784704|s2cid=149472625|url=http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/77106/3/77106.pdf}}</ref> while Eurosceptic [[right-wing populists]] focus more on nationalism and immigration, such as the [[2015 European migrant crisis]].<ref>Hobolt, Sara. "The Crisis of Legitimacy of European Institutions", in ''Europe's Crises''. John Wiley & Sons, 2018. p.256</ref> The rise in [[Radical right (Europe)|radical-right]] parties since the 2000s is strongly linked to a rise in Euroscepticism.<ref>Han Werts, Marcel Lubbers, and Peer Scheepers (2013) ''[http://eup.sagepub.com/content/14/2/183.short Euro-scepticism and radical right-wing voting in Europe, 2002–2008: Social cleavages, socio-political attitudes and contextual characteristics determining voting for the radical right] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205111259/http://eup.sagepub.com/content/14/2/183.short |date=5 February 2016 }}'', European Union Politics, vol. 14 no. 2: 183–205.</ref>

[[Eurobarometer]] surveys of EU citizens show that trust in the EU and its institutions declined strongly from 2007 to 2015.<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Trust in EU"/> In that period, it was consistently below 50%.<ref>[http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5451_en.htm Spring 2015 Standard Eurobarometer: Citizens see immigration as top challenge for EU to tackle]. [[European Commission]]. 31 July 2015.</ref> A 2009 survey showed that support for EU membership was lowest in the [[United Kingdom]] (UK), [[Latvia]], and [[Hungary]].<ref name="Eurobarometer 71">{{cite web | url = http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/PublicOpinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/yearFrom/1973/yearTo/2009/surveyKy/829 | title = Standard Eurobarometer 71 (fieldwork June–July 2009) | access-date=26 November 2009|date=September 2009 | format = PDF | publisher = [[European Commission]] | pages = 91–3 }}</ref> By 2016, the countries viewing the EU most unfavourably were the UK, [[Greece]], [[France]], and [[Spain]].<ref>{{citation | title = Euroscepticism on the rise across Europe as analysis finds increasing opposition to the EU in France, Germany and Spain | newspaper= The Independent | url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/euroscepticism-on-the-rise-across-europe-as-analysis-finds-increasing-opposition-to-the-eu-in-france-a7069766.html | access-date=1 August 2016| date= 7 June 2016 | last1= Wright | first1= Oliver }}</ref> The [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]] resulted in a 51.9% vote in favour of leaving the EU ([[Brexit]]), a decision that came into effect on 31 January 2020.

Since 2015, trust in the EU has risen in most EU countries as a result of falling unemployment rates and the end of the migrant crisis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bruegel.org/2017/03/european-spring-trust-in-the-eu-and-democracy-is-recovering/|title=European spring – Trust in the EU and democracy is recovering |website=Bruegel.org|date=4 May 2023 }}</ref> A post-[[2019 European Parliament election|2019 election]] Eurobarometer survey showed that 68% of citizens support the EU, the highest level since 1983; however, sentiment that things are not going in the right direction in the EU had increased to 50%.<ref name="europarl.europa.eu">{{Cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/at-your-service/en/be-heard/eurobarometer/closer-to-the-citizens-closer-to-the-ballot|title=Closer to the Citizens, Closer to the Ballot|website=Closer to the Citizens, Closer to the Ballot|access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref> Trust in the EU had increased significantly at the beginning of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] with levels varying across member states.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Living, working and COVID-19 data |url=https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/data/covid-19 |access-date=27 February 2022 |website=Eurofound |language=en |archive-date=27 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227212609/https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/data/covid-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=28 September 2020 |title=Trust has increased in EU but dropped in national governments: Survey |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/survey-trust-in-eu-has-increased-while-trust-in-national-government-has-dropped-coronavirus-pandemic/ |access-date=27 February 2022 |website=Politico |language=en-US}}</ref>

In March 2025, support for the European Union reached an all-time high among citizens of EU members states.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-03-26 |title=EU basks in all-time high citizen approval rate amid tense geopolitics |url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/03/26/eu-basks-in-all-time-high-citizen-approval-rate-amid-tense-geopolitics |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=euronews |language=en}}</ref> A Eurobarometer poll conducted in January and February found that 74% of EU citizens believe their country’s membership in the bloc is beneficial, the highest level recorded since the question was first introduced in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eurobarometer |url=https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/3492 |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=europa.eu}}</ref> The decline in Euroscepticism has been attributed to growing security concerns amid ongoing geopolitical instability, including the continuation of [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia’s invasion of Ukraine]] and renewed transatlantic tensions under [[Donald Trump]], who has been critical of [[NATO]] and the European Union.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Strupczewski |first=Jan |date=March 25, 2025 |title=EU approval among its citizens hits record high as security fears grow, poll shows |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-approval-among-its-citizens-hits-record-high-security-fears-grow-poll-shows-2025-03-25/ |work=Reuters}}</ref>

==Reasoning==
The main reasons for Euroscepticism include beliefs that:
* integration undermines national [[sovereignty]] and the [[nation state]];{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}}{{sfnp|Alibert|2015}}
* the EU is [[elitist]] and [[democratic deficit in the European Union|lacks democratic legitimacy]] and [[Transparency (behavior)|transparency]];{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}}{{sfnp|Alibert|2015}}
* the EU is too [[bureaucratic]] and wasteful;{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}}<ref name="Kopel-2015"/><ref name="Hannan-2007"/>
* it encourages high levels of [[immigration]];{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}}
* it is a [[neoliberal]] organisation serving the [[big business]] elite at the expense of the [[working class]]{{sfnp|FitzGibbon|Leruth|Startin|2016|p=133}}
* the EU is responsible for [[austerity]];{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=4–6}}
* the EU is responsible for driving [[privatization]].<ref name="jones"/>

==Terminology==
There can be considered to be several different types of Eurosceptic thought, which differ in the extent to which adherents reject integration between member states of the [[EU]] and in their reasons for doing so. Aleks Szczerbiak and Paul Taggart described two of these as hard and soft Euroscepticism.<ref name="Arato 162">{{cite book |title=Euroscepticism and European Integration |last=Arato |first = Krisztina |author2=Kaniok, Petr |publisher=CPI/PSRC |isbn=978-9537022204 |page = 162|year=2009 }}</ref>{{sfnp|Harmsen|Spiering| 2004 |p= 18}}<ref name="Gifford 2008 5">{{cite book |title=The Making of Eurosceptic Britain |last=Gifford |first=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0754670742 |page=5 }}</ref>{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=7}}<ref name="Lewis 2003 211">{{cite book |title=Pan-European Perspectives on Party Politics |last=Lewis |first=Paul G |author2=Webb, Paul D |year=2003 |publisher=Brill |isbn= 978-9004130142 |page=211}}</ref> At the same time, some scholars have said that there is no clear line between the presumed hard and soft Euroscepticism.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} [[Cas Mudde]] and Petr Kopecky have said that if the demarcation line is the number of and which policies a party opposes, then the question arises of how many must a party oppose and which ones should a party oppose that makes them hard Eurosceptic instead of soft.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Varieties of Euroscepticism:The Case of the European Extreme Right |author=Sofia Vasilopoulou}}</ref>

===Hard Euroscepticism===
According to Taggart and Szczerbiak, hard Euroscepticism, or anti-EU-ism,<ref name="Arato 162"/>{{sfnp|Harmsen|Spiering|2004 |p=18}}<ref name="Gifford 2008 5"/>{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=7}}<ref name="Lewis 2003 211"/> is "a principled opposition to the EU and European integration and therefore can be seen in parties who think that their countries should withdraw from membership, or whose policies towards the EU are tantamount to being opposed to the whole project of European integration as it is currently conceived".{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=7}} The [[Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy]] group in the [[European Parliament]] (2014–2019) displayed hard Euroscepticism, but following the 2019 EU elections the group was disbanded due to too few members, as its largest member, the British [[Brexit Party]], withdrew ahead of the United Kingdom's formal exit from the EU.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/brexit-party-nigel-farage-fails-to-form-political-group-in-european-parliament/|title=Brexit Party misses first deadline to form political group in European Parliament|date=26 June 2019|last=de La Baume|first=Maïa|newspaper=Politico|access-date=30 August 2023}}</ref>

Some hard Eurosceptics regard their position as pragmatic rather than in principle. Additionally, [[Tony Benn]], a left-wing [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] MP who fought against [[European integration]] in 1975 by opposing membership of the [[European Communities]] in [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|that year's referendum on the issue]], emphasised his opposition to [[xenophobia]] and his support of [[democracy]], saying: "My view about the European Union has always been not that I am hostile to foreigners, but that I am in favour of democracy. ... I think they're building an empire there, they want us to be a part of their empire and I don't want that."<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0wFii8klNg| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/f0wFii8klNg| archive-date=11 December 2021 | url-status=live|author=Tony Benn|work=[[Oxford Union]]|title=European Union|date=25 March 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The Czech president [[Václav Klaus]] rejected the term ''Euroscepticism'' for its purported negative undertones, saying at a meeting in April 2012 that the expressions for a Eurosceptic and their opponent should be "a Euro-realist" and someone who is "Euro-naïve", respectively.<ref>{{cite web|title=Radio Prague: Current Affairs|url=http://archiv.radio.cz/english/cur-affrs/31-5-99.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230601/http://archiv.radio.cz/english/cur-affrs/31-5-99.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 March 2016|access-date=28 July 2013}}</ref> [[François Asselineau]] of the French [[Popular Republican Union (2007)|Popular Republican Union]] has criticised the use of the term 'sceptic' to describe hard Eurosceptics, and would rather advocate the use of the term "Euro opponent".<ref name=UPR1>[[François Asselineau|Asselineau, François]]. [http://www.upr.fr/actualite/france-europe/europeens-convaincus-contre-eurosceptiques "« Européens convaincus » contre « Eurosceptiques » : Le retour de la Sainte Inquisition"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408033335/http://www.upr.fr/actualite/france-europe/europeens-convaincus-contre-eurosceptiques |date=8 April 2014 }}, ''[[Popular Republican Union (2007)|Popular Republican Union]]'', 16 December 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2013.</ref> He believes the use of the term 'sceptic' for soft Eurosceptics to be correct, since other Eurosceptic parties in France are "merely criticising" the EU without taking into account the fact that the [[Treaty of Rome]] can be modified only with a unanimous agreement of all the EU member states, something he considers impossible to achieve.<ref name=UPR2>{{cite news|author=Laurent De Boissieu|url=http://www.la-croix.com/Actualite/France/Presidentielle-Ces-petits-candidats-qui-veulent-se-faire-entendre-_EP_-2012-03-15-778791|title=Présidentielle: Ces "petits" candidats qui veulent se faire entendre|trans-title=Presidential election: These "small" candidates who want to be heard|language=fr|newspaper=La Croix|date=15 March 2012|access-date=9 March 2016}}</ref>

===Soft Euroscepticism===
'''Soft Euroscepticism''', also known as '''Eurorealism''', reflects a support for the existence of, and membership of, a form of EU but with opposition to specific EU policies, or in Taggart's and Szczerbiak's words, "where there is NOT a principled objection to European integration or EU membership but where concerns on one (or a number) of policy areas lead to the expression of qualified opposition to the EU, or where there is a sense that 'national interest' is currently at odds with the EU's trajectory."

Both the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]], dominated by the right-wing Polish party [[Law and Justice]], and [[The Left in the European Parliament|The Left Group]], which is an alliance of the left-wing parties in the European Parliament, display soft Euroscepticism. The European Conservatives and Reformist Group does not itself use the descriptions Euroscepticism or soft Euroscepticism and instead describes its position as one of Eurorealism, a distinction described by Leruth as being one that is "quite subtle but should not be ignored" given the association of the term Euroscepticism with "European disintegration".  Leruth describes Eurorealism  as "a pragmatic, anti-federalist, and flexible vision of European integration where the principle of subsidiarity prevails, aiming to reform the current institutional framework to extend the role of national parliaments in the decision-making process." Steven states that "Eurorealism is a form of conservativism, first and foremost, rather than a form or Euroscepticism, even if it obviously very much also has the 'soft' Eurosceptic tendencies which are present in a number of ECR member parties."{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=8}}<ref name="Tagart Szcserbiak">{{cite book|first1=Paul|last1=Taggart|first2=Aleks|last2=Szczerbiak|url=https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=sei-working-paper-no-51.pdf&site=266|title=The Party Politics of Euroscepticism in EU Member and Candidate States|publisher=Sussex European Institute|page=7|year=2001|language= en|access-date=4 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hooghe|first1=Liesbet|last2=Marks|first2=Gary|date=1 July 2007|title=Sources of Euroscepticism|journal=Acta Politica|language=en|volume=42|issue=2|pages=119–127|doi=10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500192|s2cid=144256307|issn=1741-1416}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Leruth |first=Benjamin |title=The Routledge Handbook of Euroscepticism |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-367-50003-0 |editor-last=Leruth |editor-first=Benjamin |edition=1st |location=Abingdon, Oxfordshire |pages=391–392 |language=EN |editor-last2=Startin |editor-first2=Nicholas |editor-last3=Usherwood |editor-first3=Simon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Leruth |first=Benjamin |title=Euroscepticism as a Transnational and Pan-European Phenomenon |publisher=Routledge |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-138-59843-0 |editor-last=FitzGibbon |editor-first=John |edition=1st |location=Abingdon, Oxon |pages=50 |language=EN |editor-last2=Leruth |editor-first2=Benjamin |editor-last3=Startin |editor-first3=Nick}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Steven |first=Martin |title=The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5261-3914-6 |edition=1st |location=Manchester |pages=124 |language=EN}}</ref>

===Anti-Europeanism===
{{Main|Anti-Europeanism}}
While having some overlaps, Euroscepticism and [[anti-Europeanism]] are different. Euroscepticism is criticism of the [[European Union]] (EU) and [[European integration]]. Anti-Europeanism is sentiment or policies in opposition to [[Europe]]. For example, [[American exceptionalism]] in the United States has long led to criticism of European [[domestic policy]],<ref name="ae2">[http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/2767/04_25.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Anti-Europeanism and Euroscepticism in the United States], Patrick Chamorel  No 25, EUI-RSCAS Working Papers from European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS) 2004</ref> such as the size of the [[welfare state]] in European countries,{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}<!-- This: <ref>Elsner (2005), McPherson (2003)</ref> is completely useless as a citation. Do it right or don't do it at all. --> and [[foreign policy]], such as European countries that did not support the US-led [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}<!-- This: <ref>Lexington (2007), Ash (2003)  Pipes (2006)</ref> is completely useless as a citation. Do it right or don't do it at all. -->

===Other terms===
{{anchor|Europhobia}}
Some scholars consider the gradual difference in terminology between hard and soft Euroscepticism inadequate to accommodate the large differences in terms of political agenda; ''hard Euroscepticism'' has also been referred to as ''Europhobia'' as opposed to mere ''Euroscepticism''.{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=pages=6 ff}} Other alternative names for hard and soft Euroscepticism include ''withdrawalist'' and ''reformist'', respectively.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Sources Online Information Guide: Euroscepticism |work=Cardiff University Press |page=3 |url=http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/resources/edc/Euroscepticism.pdf |date=April 2015 |access-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923221522/http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/resources/edc/Euroscepticism.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Eurobarometer surveys==
[[File:Poll about perceived EU balance benefit (2023).png|thumb|Percentage responding that their country on balance benefited from being a member of the EU at [[Eurobarometer]] 2023:<ref name="Parlameter2018">{{cite web|language=en|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/at-your-service/ro/be-heard/eurobarometer/socio-demographic-trends-edition-10|title=Socio-demographic trends in national public opinion|date=October 2023|access-date=29 July 2023|website=europarl.europa.eu}}</ref>{{Col-begin}} {{Col-break}} {{legend|#7F2AFF|91–100%}} {{legend|#0066FF|81–90%}} {{legend|#00AA00|71–80%}} {{Col-break}} {{legend|#FFCC00|61–70%}} {{legend|#FF6600|51–60%}}{{Col-end}}]]
A survey in {{As of|2015|11|alt=November 2015}}, conducted by [[Taylor Nelson Sofres|TNS]] Opinion and Social on behalf of the [[European Commission]], showed that, across the EU as a whole, those with a positive image of the EU were down from a high of 52% in 2007 to 37% in autumn 2015; this compares with 23% with a negative image of the EU, and 38% with a neutral image.<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, EU image"/> About 43% of Europeans thought things were "going in the wrong direction" in the EU, compared with 23% who thought things were going "in the right direction" (11% "don't know").<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Right direction"/> About 32% of EU citizens tend to trust the EU as an institution, and about 55% do not tend to trust it (13% "don't know").<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Trust in EU"/> Distrust of the EU was highest in [[Greece]] (81%), [[Cyprus]] (72%), [[Austria]] (65%), [[France]] (65%), the [[United Kingdom]] (UK) and the [[Czech Republic]] (both 63%). Overall, more respondents distrusted their own government (66%) than they distrusted the EU (55%). Distrust of national government was highest in Greece (82%), [[Slovenia]] (80%), [[Portugal]] (79%), Cyprus (76%), and France (76%).<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Trust in national government "/>

A Eurobarometer survey carried out four days prior to and six days after the [[2016 United States presidential election]] revealed that the surprise victory of [[Donald Trump]] caused an increase in the popularity of the EU in Europe. The increase was strongest among the political right and among respondents who perceived their country as economically struggling.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Minkus|first1=Lara|last2=Deutschmann|first2=Emanuel|last3=Delhey|first3=Jan|date=October 2018|title=A Trump Effect on the EU's Popularity? The U.S. Presidential Election as a Natural Experiment |journal=Perspectives on Politics|volume=17|issue=2|language=en|pages=399–416|doi=10.1017/S1537592718003262 |doi-access=free |issn=1537-5927}}</ref>

A survey carried out in April 2018 for the European Parliament by Kantar Public consulting found that support for the EU was "the highest score ever measured since 1983". Support for the EU was up in 26 out of 28 EU countries, the exceptions being Germany and the UK, where support had dropped by about 2% since the previous survey. Almost half (48%) of the 27,601 EU citizens surveyed agreed that their voice counted in the EU, up from 37% in 2016, whereas 46% disagreed with this statement. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents felt that their country had benefited from EU membership and 60% said that being part of the bloc was a good thing, as opposed to 12% who felt the opposite. At the height of the EU's financial and economic crises in 2011, just 47% had been of the view that EU membership was a good thing. Support for EU membership was greatest in [[Malta]] (93%), [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] (91%), [[Lithuania]] (90%), [[Poland]] (88%), [[Luxembourg]] (88%), [[Estonia]] (86%), and [[Denmark]] (84%), and lowest in [[Greece]] (57%), [[Bulgaria]] (57%), [[Republic of Cyprus|Cyprus]] (56%), [[Austria]] (54%), the [[United Kingdom]] (53%), and [[Italy]] (44%).<ref name="Heath-2018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/europeans-love-the-eu-and-populists-too/|title=Europeans love the EU (and populists too)|last=Heath|first=Ryan|date=23 May 2018|work=Politico.eu}}</ref>

When asked which issues should be a priority for the European Parliament, survey respondents picked terrorism as the most pressing topic of discussion, ahead of youth unemployment and immigration. Not all countries shared the same priorities. Immigration topped the list in Italy (66% of citizens surveyed considered it a priority issue), Malta (65%), and [[Hungary]] (62%) but fighting youth unemployment and support for economic growth were top concerns in [[Spain]], Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, and [[Croatia]]. Social protection of citizens was the top concern for Dutch, Swedish, and Danish respondents.<ref name="Heath-2018"/>

The April 2019 [[Eurobarometer]] showed that despite the challenges of the past years, and in cases such as the ongoing debate surrounding Brexit, possibly even because of it, the European sense of togetherness had not weakened, with 68% of respondents across the EU27 believing that their countries have benefited from being part of the EU, a historically high level since 1983. On the other hand, more Europeans (27%) were uncertain and saw the EU as "neither a good thing nor a bad thing", an increase in 19 countries. Despite the overall positive attitude towards the EU but in line with the uncertainty expressed by a growing number of Europeans, the feeling that things were not going in the right direction in both the EU and in their own countries had increased to 50% on EU average since September 2018.<ref name="europarl.europa.eu"/>

The Eurobarometer 93.1 survey was in the field across Europe when the [[European Council]] summit reached political agreement on a pandemic economic recovery fund (later named [[Next Generation EU]]) on 21 July 2020. A comparison of Eurobarometer responses gathered before this seminal decision and interviews conducted shortly thereafter indicates that the European Council's endorsement of pandemic economic relief increased popular support of COVID-19 economic recovery aid - but only among Europeans who view EU decisionmakers as trustworthy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mikulaschek |first=Christoph |date=29 August 2023 |title=The responsive public: How European Union decisions shape public opinion on salient policies |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14651165231190322 |journal=European Union Politics |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=645–665 |language=en |doi=10.1177/14651165231190322 |s2cid=261386222 |issn=1465-1165|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

{{Sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
|+General public image of EU by country according to [[Eurobarometer]] 2024<ref name="i768">{{cite report | title=Public opinion in the European Union: first results : report. | date=2024 | publisher=Publications Office of the European Union | doi=10.2775/437940 | url=https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2775/437940 | page = 13 | author1=European Commission. Directorate General for Communication. }}</ref>
! Country !! Positive % !! Neutral % !! Negative %
!Positive % - Negative %
|-
| {{flaglist|Czech Republic}}	||	{{Percentage bar|35|c=#80FF80|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|35|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|30|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+5</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|France}}	||	{{Percentage bar|33|c=#80FF80|width=50}}||	'''{{Percentage bar|38|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|28|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+5</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Austria}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|38|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|24|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|27|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+11</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Greece}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|38|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|37|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|25|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+13</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Cyprus}}	||	{{Percentage bar|39|c=#80FF80|width=50}}||	'''{{Percentage bar|40|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|21|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+18</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Spain}}	||	{{Percentage bar|42|c=#80FF80|width=50}}||	'''{{Percentage bar|44|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|13|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+19</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Slovenia}}	||	{{Percentage bar|37|c=#80FF80|width=50}}||	'''{{Percentage bar|46|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|16|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+21</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Slovakia}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|44|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|34|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|22|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+22</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Malta}}	||	{{Percentage bar|39|c=#80FF80|width=50}}||	'''{{Percentage bar|45|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|16|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+23</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Germany}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|42|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|41|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|17|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+25</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Hungary}}	||	{{Percentage bar|42|c=#80FF80|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|42|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|16|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+26</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Belgium}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|47|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|33|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|20|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+27</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Italy}}	||  '''{{Percentage bar|44|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|40|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|16|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+28</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Estonia}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|43|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|41|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|15|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+28</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Netherlands}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|44|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|29|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|15|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+29</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Croatia}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|53|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|34|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|13|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+30</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Poland}}	||  '''{{Percentage bar|54|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|33|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|13|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+31</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Romania}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|46|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|39|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|14|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+32</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Sweden}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|55|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|33|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|12|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+33</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Latvia}}	||	{{Percentage bar|44|c=#80FF80|width=50}}||	'''{{Percentage bar|45|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|10|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+34</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Bulgaria}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|53|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||  {{Percentage bar|28|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|18|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+35</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Luxembourg}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|54|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|29|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|16|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+38</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Finland}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|49|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|40|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|10|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+39</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Denmark}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|59|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|31|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|9|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+50</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Lithuania}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|58|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|35|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|6|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+52</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Ireland}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|66|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|24|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|10|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+56</span>
|-
| {{flaglist|Portugal}}	||	'''{{Percentage bar|68|c=#80FF80|width=50}}'''||	{{Percentage bar|26|c=#D3D3D3|width=50}}||  {{Percentage bar|5|c=#FF8080|width=50}}
|<span style="color:green;">+61</span>
|}

==History in the European Parliament==

===1999–2004===
A study analysed voting records of the Fifth European Parliament and ranked groups, concluding:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fedtrust.co.uk/admin/uploads/FedT_workshop_HixNoury.pdf|title=After Enlargement: Voting Behaviour in the Sixth European Parliament|author1=Simon Hix|author2=Abdul Noury|website=The UK Federal Trust for Education and Research|date=17 March 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925211417/http://www.fedtrust.co.uk/admin/uploads/FedT_workshop_HixNoury.pdf|archive-date=25 September 2006}}</ref> "Towards the top of the figure are the more pro-European parties (PES, EPP-ED, and ALDE), whereas towards the bottom of the figure are the more anti-European parties (EUL/NGL, G/EFA, UEN and EDD)."

===2004–2009===
In 2004, 37 [[Member of the European Parliament|Members of the European Parliament]] (MEPs) from the UK, [[Poland]], [[Denmark]] and [[Sweden]] founded a new European Parliament group called "[[Independence and Democracy]]" from the old [[Europe of Democracies and Diversities]] (EDD) group.

The main goal of the ID group was to reject the proposed [[Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe]]. Some delegations within the group, notably that from UKIP, also advocated the complete withdrawal of their country from the EU, while others only wished to limit further European integration.

===2009 elections===
The [[2009 European Parliament election|elections of 2009]] saw a significant fall in support in some areas for Eurosceptic parties, with all such MEPs from Poland, Denmark and Sweden losing their seats. In the UK, the Eurosceptic UKIP achieved second place in the election, finishing ahead of the governing Labour Party, and the [[British National Party]] (BNP) won its first-ever two MEPs. Although new members joined the ID group from Greece and the [[Netherlands]], it was unclear whether the group would reform in the new parliament.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

The ID group did reform, as the [[Europe of Freedom and Democracy]] (EFD) and is represented by 32 MEPs from nine countries.{{Sfnp|FitzGibbon|Leruth|Startin|2016|p=4{{ndash}}6}}

===2014 elections===
The [[2014 European Parliament election|elections of 2014]] saw a big anti-establishment vote in favour of Eurosceptic parties, which took around a quarter of the seats available. Those that came first their national elections included: UKIP in the UK (the first time since 1906 that a party other than Labour or the Conservatives had won a national vote), the [[National Front (France)|National Front]] in France, the [[Danish People's Party|People's Party]] in Denmark and [[Coalition of the Radical Left|Syriza]] in Greece. Second places were taken by [[Sinn Féin]] in Ireland and the [[Five Star Movement]] in Italy. [[Herman Van Rompuy]], the [[President of the European Council]], agreed following the election to re-evaluate the economic area's agenda and to launch consultations on future policy areas with the 28 member states.{{Citation needed|date=July 2015}}

===2019 elections===
The [[2019 European Parliament election|elections of 2019]] saw the centre-left and centre-right parties suffer significant losses including losing their overall majority, while [[green politics|green]], [[Pro-Europeanism|pro-EU]] liberal, and some Eurosceptic right wing parties saw significant gains.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48420697 |title=European elections 2019: Country-by-country roundup – BBC News |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date= 27 May 2019|access-date=15 July 2019|work=BBC News }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48420024 |title=European elections 2019: What were the clear trends? – BBC News |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date= 27 May 2019|access-date=15 July 2019|work=BBC News |last1=Adler |first1=Katya }}</ref> Those that came first in their national elections included: the [[Brexit Party]] in the UK (which was only launched on 12 April 2019 by former UKIP leader [[Nigel Farage]]), the [[National Rally (France)|National Rally]] of France (formerly the National Front party until June 2018), [[Fidesz]] in Hungary, [[Lega Nord|Lega]] in Italy, and [[Law and Justice]] in Poland. There were also notable falls in support for the [[Danish People's Party]] (previously topped the 2014 European election). Whilst [[Vox (political party)|Vox]] got elected with 3 seats, Spain's first Eurosceptic party and Belgium's [[Vlaams Belang]] rallied to gain second place after its poor 2014 result.

===2024 elections===
In the [[2024 European Parliament elections|elections of 2024]], 24 EU countries elected at least one member of a Eurosceptic group ([[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]], [[Patriots for Europe]] or [[Europe of Sovereign Nations Group|Europe of Sovereign Nations]]). The three exceptions were [[2024 European Parliament election in Ireland|Ireland]], [[2024 European Parliament election in Malta|Malta]] and [[2024 European Parliament election in Slovenia|Slovenia]].<ref name="h164">{{cite web | last=Poloni | first=Giulia | title=European Election results, polls and election news | website=POLITICO | date=2023-12-20 | url=https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/european-parliament-election/ | access-date=2024-06-15}}</ref><ref name="c091">{{cite web | title=European Parliament Election 2024 | website=Europe Elects | date=2024-06-14 | url=https://europeelects.eu/ep2024/ | access-date=2024-06-15}}</ref>

==In EU member states==
{{See also|2015 European migrant crisis}}

===Austria===
[[File:Heinz-Christian Strache Sankt Poelten 20080918d.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Heinz-Christian Strache]], former leader of the Austrian hard Eurosceptic party [[Freedom Party of Austria|FPÖ]] ]]

The [[Freedom Party of Austria]] (FPÖ), established in 1956, is a right-wing populist party that mainly attracts support from young people and workers.<ref>Nordland, Rod (4 October 2008). [http://www.newsweek.com/2008/10/03/charging-to-the-right.html Charging To The Right]. ''[[Newsweek]]''. Retrieved 13 June 2010.</ref> In 1989, it changed its stance over the EU to Euroscepticism. It opposed Austria joining the EU in 1994, and opposed the introduction of the [[euro]] in 1998. The party would like to leave the EU if it threatens to develop into [[European Federation|a country]], or if [[Turkey]] joins. The FPÖ received 20–27% of the national vote in the 1990s, and more recently received 18% in 2008. Following the [[2017 Austrian legislative election]], it has 51/183 National Council seats, 16/62 Federal Council seats, and 4/19 European Parliament seats.

The [[Alliance for the Future of Austria|Bündnis Zukunft Österreich]] (BZÖ), established in 2005, is a socially conservative party that has always held Eurosceptic elements. In 2011 the party openly supported leaving the [[eurozone]], and in 2012 it announced that it supported a full withdrawal from the European Union.<ref>{{cite news |title=BZÖ will raus aus der Euro-Zone|url=http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/BZOe-will-raus-aus-der-Euro-Zone/69868870|newspaper=[[Österreich (newspaper)|Österreich]] |date=21 June 2012 |access-date=9 November 2012|language=de}}</ref> The party has also called upon a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.<ref name="BZÖ wird rechtsliberal">{{cite news|title=BZÖ wird "rechtsliberal"|url=http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/515151/BZO-wird-rechtsliberal|newspaper=[[Die Presse]]|date=15 October 2009|access-date=9 July 2011|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519073226/http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/515151/BZO-wird-rechtsliberal|archive-date=19 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In polls it generally received around 10–15%, although in one state it did receive 45% of the vote in 2009. Since the 2017 election, it has 0/183 National Council seats, 0/62 Federal Council seats, and 0/19 European Parliament seats.

[[Team Stronach]], established in 2012, has campaigned to reform the European Union, as well as to replace the euro with an Austrian Euro. In 2012, it regularly received 8–10% support in national polls.<ref>{{cite news |title=Austrian magnate's new party wants to dump euro|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/austrian-magnate-s-new-party-wants-to-dump-euro-1.541727|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=23 August 2012|access-date=26 August 2012}}</ref> Politicians from many different parties (including the Social Democratic Party and the BZÖ) as well as previous independents switched their allegiances to the new party upon creation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Stronach-Partei: Gerüchte um vierten Mandatar "falsch"|url=http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/1283045/StronachPartei_Geruchte-um-vierten-Mandatar-falsch |newspaper=[[Die Presse]]|date=26 August 2012|access-date=12 May 2012|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Zerfallserscheinungen beim BZÖ |url=http://kurier.at/politik/stronach-ueberlaeufer-sollen-eid-ablegen/823.779|newspaper=[[Kurier]] |date=12 October 2012 |access-date=12 October 2012|language=de}}</ref> In two local elections in March 2013, it won 11% of the vote in [[2013 Carinthian state election|Carinthia]], and 10% of the vote in [[Lower Austria]]. It dissolved in 2017.

[[Ewald Stadler]], a former member of FPÖ (and later of BZÖ) was very Eurosceptic, but in 2011 became a member of the European Parliament due to the Lisbon Treaty. Before Stadler accepted the seat, this led to heavy critics by Jörg Leichtfried (SPÖ) "Stadler wants to just rescue his political career" because Stadler before mentioned he would never accept a seat as MEP if this was only due to the Lisbon Treaty.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leichtfried zu Stadler: Chaos bei BZÖ – EU-Mandat durch Lissabon plötzlich akzeptabel|url=http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20091217_OTS0158/leichtfried-zu-stadler-chaos-bei-bzoe-eu-mandat-durch-lissabon-ploetzlich-akzeptabel|date=17 December 2009 |access-date=21 February 2014|language=de}}</ref> On 23 December 2013 he founded a conservative and Eurosceptic party called [[The Reform Conservatives]], although it has been inactive since June 2016.

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Austria|2014 European Parliament election]], the FPÖ increased its vote to 19.7% (up 7.0%), gaining 2 new MEPs, making a total of 4; the party came third, behind the ÖVP and the SPÖ. EU-STOP (the electoral alliance of the [[EU Withdrawal Party]] and the [[Neutral Free Austria|Neutral Free Austria Federation]]) polled 2.8%, gaining no seats, and the [[Reform Conservatives]] 1.2%, with Team Stronach putting up no candidates.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://derstandard.at/1395364606981/Nachbaur-Die-Neos-sind-ein-moderner-Maennerklub|title=Nachbaur: "Die Neos sind ein moderner Männerklub" – derStandard.at|website=Der Standard|language=de-AT|access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Austria|2019 European Parliament election]], the FPÖ came 3rd with 17.2% of the vote which was only slightly down on 2014 despite a scandal allegedly promising public contracts to a woman posing as a Russian backer. This precipitated the collapse of the ruling coalition and a new election being called.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jon Henley and Philip Oltermann |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/18/austrian-government-in-crisis-over-secret-strache-footage |title=Austria to move fast to hold elections after coalition collapses &#124; World news |newspaper=The Guardian |date= 18 May 2019|access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://election-results.eu/national-results/austria/2019-2024/|title=National results Austria &#124; 2019 Election results &#124; 2019 European election results &#124; European Parliament|website=europarl.europa.eu|access-date=27 May 2019|archive-date=27 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527212542/https://www.election-results.eu/national-results/austria/2019-2024/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Belgium===
According to [[Eurostat]], in the fall of 2018, 44% of Belgians stated that they did not trust the [[European Union]].<ref name=eurobarometer>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/STANDARD/yearFrom/1974/surveyKy/2142|title=Standard Eurobarometer 90|publisher=[[European Commission]]|access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref> The main Eurosceptic party in [[Belgium]] is the right-wing [[Vlaams Belang]] which is active in the [[Flemish people|Dutch-speaking]] part of Belgium, however the left-wing [[PTB-PVDA]] also opposes the EU on many issues, primarily austerity and social policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Realfonzo |first=Ugo |date=6 December 2023 |title=No 'Bexit' on the cards for Belgium, EU poll says |work=[[The Brussels Times]] |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/826596/no-bexit-on-the-cards-for-belgium-eu-poll-says |url-status=live |access-date=6 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206171344/https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/826596/no-bexit-on-the-cards-for-belgium-eu-poll-says |archive-date=6 December 2023}}</ref> In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Belgium|2014 European Parliament election]], Vlaams Belang lost over half of its previous vote share, polling 4.3% (down 5.5%) and losing 1 of its 2 members of the European Parliament.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2014-results/en/country-results-be-2009.html|title=Result of the 2014 European election|publisher=European Parliament|access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> Despite the presence of Eurosceptic parties in Belgium, their weight is relatively low, as Belgium is predominantly [[Europeanist]].<ref name=eurobarometer/><ref name="WilfriedMartensCentreforEuropeanStudies">{{cite book|url=https://martenscentre.eu/publications/thorn-side-european-elites-new-euroscepticism|title=A Thorn in the side of European Elites:The new Euroscepticism|publisher=Wilfried Martens Centre|access-date=3 May 2019|archive-date=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503133923/https://martenscentre.eu/publications/thorn-side-european-elites-new-euroscepticism|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2019, Vlaams Belang stated in its program<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vlaamsbelang.org/programma/|title=Vlaams Belang program|website=Vlaams Belang|access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref> for the [[2019 European Parliament election]] that it opposes the creation of a European state, would like to change the [[Economic and Monetary Union of the EU]], and to end the [[Schengen Area]], and refuses the accession of [[Turkey]] to the EU. More widely, the euro-sceptic arguments of the Vlaams Belang are based on four pillars:
# loss of [[sovereignty]] (for instance on economic sovereignty or on the binding legal order);
# the financial cost of the [[European Union]];
# less competences for [[European Union]];
# leaving the [[euro]] (even though in 2019 the party has changed its line and now wants to reform the euro).<ref name="LouvainUniversity">{{cite web|url=https://dial.uclouvain.be/pr/boreal/object/boreal:187422|title=" L'Europe contre les peuples " : euroscepticisme et populisme dans le discours des partis politiques|publisher=Université de Louvain|access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> During the [[2019 European Parliament election in Belgium]], Vlaams Belang made substantial gains in both and polled in second place in Flemish region. At the beginning of 2019, the party was enrolled in the group of [[European Alliance of People and Nations]] in the [[European Parliament]].

The [[New Flemish Alliance]] (N-VA) is a soft Eurosceptic party in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Before 2010, the N-VA was [[pro-European]] and supported the idea of a democratic European confederation, but has since altered this policy to a more sceptical stance on further European integration and now calls for more democratic transparency within the EU, changes to the EU's common asylum policy and economic reforms to the [[Eurozone]]. The N-VA has obtained 26.8% of the votes or 4 seats of the Dutch-language college out of 12 (21 MEPs for Belgium) in the [[2014 European Parliament election]]. In April 2019, it stood in [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]] of the European Parliament, and can be considered a moderate Eurosceptic party.

In the French-speaking part of Belgium ([[Walloons]]), there are four Eurosceptic parties. The first one is [[Nation (political party)|Nation Movement]], a far-right party which was a member of the [[Alliance for Peace and Freedom]] in the European Parliament. The second one is [[National Front (Belgium)|National Front]], also a [[far right]] party which criticizes the European bureaucracy, intends to guarantee and preserve national independence and freedom in a liberated Europe; it also reaffirms the Christian roots of Europe. The third one is the [[People's Party (Belgium)|People's Party]], classified as right or extreme right. In its program<ref>{{cite web|url=https://partipopulaire.be/|title=Parti populaire|publisher=Parti populaire|access-date=13 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142653/https://partipopulaire.be/|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> for the European election of 2019 the People's Party proposes to abolish the [[European Commission]], reduce the number of European parliamentarians and fight against the worker-posted directive.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=471|title=Posted worker directive|publisher=European Commission|access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> For this party, the EU must be led by a president elected by [[universal suffrage]] with clear but limited competences. It also wants to renegotiate the European Union treaties, restrict the [[judicial activism]] of the [[European Court of Human Rights]]. It declares itself against the [[Global Compact for Migration]]. The last one is the {{ill|Parti libertarien|fr|Parti libertarien (Belgique)|vertical-align=sup}}. In early 2019, the party aims to reduce the powers of the European Commission, to abolish the [[Common Agricultural Policy]], to abandon common defense projects, to simplify the exit procedure of the [[European Union]], to reject [[federalism]] and to forbid the European Union to direct economic, fiscal or social policy,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parti-libertarien.be/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/programme_PLIB.pdf|title=Program Libertarian Party|publisher=Libertarian Party|access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> Finally, the [[Workers' Party of Belgium]] is an electoral and unitary party. It also intends to revise the European treaties considered too liberal. One of the Party's currencies is "The left that stings, against the Europe of money".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ptb.be/une_europe_des_gens_pas_de_largent|title=Parti du travail de Belgique|publisher=Parti du travail de Belgique|access-date=13 May 2019|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502151807/https://www.ptb.be/une_europe_des_gens_pas_de_largent|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Bulgaria===
[[File:Volen Siderov ATAKA.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Volen Siderov]], leader of the Bulgarian Eurosceptic party [[Attack (political party)|Attack]] ]]
[[File:EU flag down.jpg|upright|left|thumb|European flag in Bulgaria torn down by supporters of the Eurosceptic party Attack]]

Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are [[National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria|NFSB]], [[Attack (political party)|Attack]], and [[IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement|VMRO – BND]], which is a member of the Eurosceptic [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]].
Bulgaria's Minister of Finance, [[Simeon Djankov]], stated in 2011 that ERM II membership to enter the Euro zone would be postponed until after the [[Eurozone crisis]] had stabilised.<ref name="Radio Bulgaria">{{cite web|url=http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Lifestyle/BGEU/Pages/2607BulgariaputsoffEurozonemembershipfor2015.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329104921/http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Lifestyle/BGEU/Pages/2607BulgariaputsoffEurozonemembershipfor2015.aspx |archive-date=29 March 2012|title=Bulgaria puts off Eurozone membership for 2015|publisher=Radio Bulgaria|date=26 July 2011|access-date=2 September 2012}}</ref>

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Bulgaria|2014 European Parliament election]] Bulgaria remained overwhelmingly pro-EU, with the Eurosceptic Attack party receiving 3% of the vote, down 9%, with the splinter group [[National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria]] taking 3; neither party secured any MEPs. A coalition between [[IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement|VMRO – BND]] and [[Reload Bulgaria|Bulgaria Without Censorship]] secured an MEP position for [[Angel Dzhambazki]] from IMRO, who is a hard Eurosceptic.

Followers of Eurosceptic Attack tore down and trampled the [[European flag]] on 3 March 2016 at a meeting of the party in the Bulgarian capital [[Sofia]], dedicated to the commemoration of the 138th anniversary of the [[liberation of Bulgaria]] from the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnevnik.bg/bulgaria/2016/03/03/2716796_privurjenici_na_ataka_svaliha_znameto_na_es_ot/ |title=Привърженици на "Атака" свалиха знамето на ЕС от пилоните пред НДК |date=3 March 2016 |publisher=Дневник |access-date=3 March 2016 |language=bg}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Bulgaria|2019 European Parliament election]], Bulgaria remained overwhelmingly pro-EU with the ruling centre-right Gerb party winning with 31%, against 26% for the socialist BSP.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://election-results.eu/national-results/bulgaria/2019-2024/|title=National results Bulgaria &#124; 2019 Election results &#124; 2019 European election results &#124; European Parliament|website=europarl.europa.eu|access-date=27 May 2019|archive-date=24 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524112915/https://election-results.eu/national-results/bulgaria/2019-2024/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since the [[2021–2023 Bulgarian political crisis]], the far-right hard Eurosceptic party [[Revival (Bulgarian political party)|Revival]] has outplaced Attack, with it getting 14% on the most recent [[2023 Bulgarian parliamentary election]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-elections-revival-pro-russian/32060748.html|title=Revival On The Rise: Ahead Of Elections, Far-Right Party Is Tapping Into Bulgarian Public Anger|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=October 2022 |last1=Simeonova |first1=Elitsa |last2=Wesolowsky |first2=Tony }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://results.cik.bg/ns2023/rezultati/index.html|title=Резултати :: Избори за народни представители 02 април 2023|website=cik.bg|language=bg}}</ref>

===Croatia===
Parties with Eurosceptic views are mainly small right-wing parties like [[Croatian Party of Rights]], [[Croatian Party of Rights dr. Ante Starčević]], [[Croatian Pure Party of Rights]], [[Autochthonous Croatian Party of Rights]], [[Croatian Christian Democratic Party]] and [[Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia]].

The only [[parliamentary party]] that is vocally Eurosceptic is [[The Key of Croatia]] (formerly known as Human Shield) that won 5 out of 151 seats at the [[2016 Croatian parliamentary election|2016 parliamentary election]]. Their position is generally considered to waver between hard and soft Euroscepticism; it requests thorough reform of the EU so that all member states would be perfectly equal. 

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Croatia|2019 European Parliament election]], the Key of Croatia gained its first seat in the European Parliament with 6% of the vote putting it in 5th place.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://election-results.eu/national-results/croatia/2019-2024/|title=National results Croatia &#124; 2019 Election results &#124; 2019 European election results &#124; European Parliament|website=europarl.europa.eu|access-date=27 May 2019|archive-date=4 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604131233/https://election-results.eu/national-results/croatia/2019-2024/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Key of Croatia would go on to lose all of its seats in the [[2020 Croatian parliamentary election]], and merge into the [[Law and Justice (Croatia)|Law and Justice]] party in 2024.<ref name="ref1">{{cite web |title=O Pravu i Pravdi |url=https://pravoipravda.hr/o-pravu-i-pravdi/ |website=pravoipravda.hr |date=19 February 2024 |publisher=Pravo i Pravda |access-date=7 April 2024}}</ref> Law and Justice won a single seat (now vacant) in the [[2024 Croatian parliamentary election|2024 parliamentary elections]] as part of a coalition with the [[Homeland Movement (Croatia)|Homeland Movement]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kolar |first=Helena |date=27 March 2024 |title=DP i Kolakušić predstavili liste: 'Molim sve one sa zrnom soli u glavi da glasaju za nas i ne rasipaju glasove. Otići će HDZ-u' |trans-title=DP and Kolakušić presented the lists: 'I am asking all those with a grain of salt in their heads to vote for us and not waste their votes. They will go to HDZ' |url=https://www.telegram.hr/politika-kriminal/dp-i-kolakusic-predstavili-liste-molim-sve-one-sa-zrnom-soli-u-glavi-da-glasaju-za-nas-i-ne-rasipaju-glasove-otici-ce-hdz-u/ |access-date=27 March 2024 |website=Telegram |language=hr}}</ref> Its only remaining MEPs would lose re-election in the [[2024 European Parliament election  in Croatia|2024 European Parliament election]].

===Cyprus===
Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views in Cyprus are the [[Progressive Party of Working People]] and [[ELAM (Cyprus)|ELAM]].

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Cyprus|2019 European Parliament election]], there was little change politically – the conservatives won narrowly, the ruling DISY taking two seats with 29%, followed by socialist AKEL (27.5%, two seats) with no seats taken by Eurosceptic parties.

===Czechia===
{{Main|Euroscepticism in the Czech Republic}}

[[File:Vaclav Klaus headshot.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Vaclav Klaus|Václav Klaus]], former Eurosceptic [[List of Presidents of the Czech Republic|President of the Czech Republic]] ]]

In May 2010, the Czech president [[Václav Klaus]] said that they "needn't hurry to enter the Eurozone".<ref>{{cite web|last=Kolyako|first=Nina|title=Czech Republic is in no rush to implement euro|url=http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/baltic_states/?doc=27159|publisher=The Baltic Course|access-date=4 March 2011}}</ref>

[[Petr Mach]], an economist, a close associate of president Václav Klaus and a member of the [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]] between 1997 and 2007, founded the [[Free Citizens Party]] in 2009. The party aims to mainly attract dissatisfied Civic Democratic Party voters.<ref>{{citation | language = cs | url = http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct24/domaci/1420983-petr-mach-zvolen-do-cela-strany-svobodnych-obcanu | title = Petr Mach zvolen do čela Strany svobodných občanů | publisher = CT24 | place = CZ | date = 14 February 2009}}</ref> At the time of the [[Ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon|Lisbon Treaty ratification]], they were actively campaigning against it, supported by the president Vaclav Klaus, who demanded opt-outs such as were granted to the United Kingdom and Poland,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.svobodni.cz/media/tiskove-zpravy/213-vyzva-senatorum/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718190102/http://www.svobodni.cz/media/tiskove-zpravy/213-vyzva-senatorum/ |archive-date=18 July 2011 |title=Svobodní: Výzva senátorům |publisher=Svobodni.cz |date=5 February 2009 |access-date=18 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.svobodni.cz/media/tiskove-zpravy/153-verejne-cteni-lisabonske-smlouvy-ji-tuto-nedeli/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820092020/http://www.svobodni.cz/media/tiskove-zpravy/153-verejne-cteni-lisabonske-smlouvy-ji-tuto-nedeli/ |archive-date=20 August 2011 |title=Svobodní: Veřejné čtení Lisabonské smlouvy již tuto neděli |publisher=Svobodni.cz |date=15 April 2009 |access-date=18 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/09/eu-lisbon-treaty-czech-republic|title=Lisbon treaty turmoil as Czechs demand opt-out|work=The Guardian|date=9 October 2009|access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref> unlike the governing Civic Democratic Party, who endorsed it in the [[Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic|Chamber of Deputies]].<ref>{{citation | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=avW4ArG6nEkM&refer=germany | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120412010300/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=avW4ArG6nEkM&refer=germany | url-status = dead | archive-date = 12 April 2012 | title = EU Dodges Constitutional Hurdle as Czechs Back Treaty (Update 2) | publisher = Bloomberg | date = 18 February 2009}}</ref> After the treaty has been ratified, Mach's party is in favour of withdrawing from the European Union completely.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.svobodni.cz/1-nezobrazeno/86-evropa-svobodnych-statu/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901042527/http://www.svobodni.cz/1-nezobrazeno/86-evropa-svobodnych-statu/ |archive-date=1 September 2010 |title=Svobodní: Evropa svobodných států |publisher=Svobodni.cz |access-date=18 February 2015}}</ref> In the [[2014 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic|2014 European Parliament election]], the Free Citizens Party won one mandate and allied with UKIP in the [[Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy]] (EFD).

The [[2017 Czech legislative election]] brought into Parliament one soft eurosceptic party, the centre-right [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]] (ODS) (11%), and two hard eurosceptic parties, the far-right [[Freedom and Direct Democracy]] (SPD) (11%) and the left-wing to far-left [[Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia]] (KSČM) (8%).

An April 2016 survey by the CVVM Institute indicated that 25% of Czechs were satisfied with EU membership, down from 32% the previous year.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-czech-president-idUSKCN0ZH4C8 "Czech government rejects President's call for referendum on EU, NATO"]. Reuters.com. 1 July 2016.</ref>

Dividends worth CZK 270 billion were paid to the [[Foreign ownership|foreign owners]] of Czech companies in 2017, which has become a political issue in the Czech Republic.<ref>{{cite news |title=Czech foreign-owned companies take second-biggest dividend yield in 2017:report |url=https://www.radio.cz/en/section/business/czech-foreign-owned-companies-take-second-biggest-dividend-yield-in-2017report |work=Radio Prague |date=7 March 2018}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic|2019 European Parliament election]], the Civic Democratic Party saw its vote share rise to 15% and its seats doubled from 2 to 4. The Freedom and Direct Democracy party took 2 seats with 9% of the vote. KSČM dropped 2 seats leaving it with only one and a vote share of 7%<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://election-results.eu/national-results/czechia/2019-2024/|title=National results Czechia &#124; 2019 Election results &#124; 2019 European election results &#124; European Parliament|website=europarl.europa.eu|access-date=27 May 2019|archive-date=27 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527092431/https://www.election-results.eu/national-results/czechia/2019-2024/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Denmark===
{{Main|Denmark and the European Union#Euroscepticism|Danish withdrawal from the European Union}}

[[File:Pia Kjærsgaard (2014).JPG|thumb|upright|[[Pia Kjærsgaard]], member (and former leader) of the hard Eurosceptic party [[Danish People's Party]] (Dansk Folkeparti), the fifth-largest represented in the [[Folketing|Danish parliament]] and the fifth-most represented in the European Parliament]]

The [[People's Movement against the EU]] only takes part in European Parliament elections and has one member in the European Parliament. The soft Eurosceptic [[June Movement]], originally a split-off from the People's Movement against the EU, existed from 1992 to 2009.

In the Danish [[Folketinget|Parliament]], the [[Enhedslisten|Red-Green Alliance]] previously advocated withdrawal from the EU, but in March 2019, the party announced it would no longer campaign for a referendum to leave the EU, pointing to [[Brexit]] illustrating the need for clarity before withdrawal can be considered.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hvass |first1=Jesper |last2=Rytgaard |first2=Nikolaj |title=Enhedslisten parkerer krav om dansk udmeldelse af EU efter britisk kaos |url=https://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE11250051/enhedslisten-parkerer-krav-om-dansk-udmeldelse-af-eu-efter-britisk-kaos/ |access-date=15 March 2019 |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |date=15 March 2019 |language=da}}</ref> The [[Danish People's Party]] also advocates withdrawal, but says it supports some EU structures such as the [[European Single Market|internal market]], and supported the EU-positive [[Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen I|Liberal-Conservative coalition]] between 2001 and 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019.

The [[Socialist People's Party (Denmark)|Socialist People's Party]], minorities within the [[Radikale Venstre|Social Liberal Party]] and [[Socialdemokratiet|Social Democratic Party]], and some smaller parties were against accession to the European Union in 1972. Still in 1986, these parties advocated a no vote in the [[1986 Danish Single European Act referendum|Single European Act referendum]]. Later, the Social Liberal Party changed to a strongly EU-positive party, and EU opposition within the Social Democratic Party faded. The Socialist People's Party were against the [[1998 Danish Amsterdam Treaty referendum|Amsterdam Treaty]] in 1998 and [[2000 Danish euro referendum|Denmark's joining the euro]] in 2000, but has become increasingly EU-positive, for example when MEP [[Margrete Auken]] left the [[European United Left–Nordic Green Left]] and joined [[The Greens–European Free Alliance]] in 2004.

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Denmark|2014 European Parliament election]], the [[Danish People's Party]] came first by a large margin with 27% of the vote, gaining 2 extra seats for a total of 4 MEPs. The [[People's Movement against the EU]] polled 8%, retaining its single MEP.

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Denmark|2019 European Parliament election]], the [[Danish People's Party]] lost around two-thirds of their previous vote share dropping from 4 seats to just 1. The [[People's Movement against the EU]] lost their seat and the [[Enhedslisten|Red-Green Alliance]] got one seat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://election-results.eu/national-results/denmark/2019-2024/|title=National results Denmark &#124; 2019 Election results &#124; 2019 European election results &#124; European Parliament|website=election-results.eu|access-date=27 May 2019|archive-date=24 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524113030/https://election-results.eu/national-results/denmark/2019-2024/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[2019 Danish general election]] saw the emergence of a new hard Eurosceptic party [[Nye Borgerlige]] which supports Denmark leaving the EU. The party won four seats in parliament.<ref>[https://nyeborgerlige.dk/politik/oekonomisk_plan/ nyeborgerlige.dk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019061758/https://nyeborgerlige.dk/politik/oekonomisk_plan/ |date=19 October 2019 }}. "We want fewer laws and rules (...) We want to (...) 
[a]bolish more laws than are passed". Retrieved 8 November 2017.</ref>

===Estonia===
The [[Estonian Independence Party|Independence Party]] and [[Estonian Centre Party|Centre Party]] were against accession to the EU, but only the Independence Party still wants Estonia to withdraw from the EU. The [[Conservative People's Party of Estonia|Conservative People's Party]] (EKRE) also has some Eurosceptic policies and increased its vote share from 4% in 2014 to 13% in the 2019 European Elections winning one seat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://election-results.eu/national-results/estonia/2019-2024/|title=National results Estonia &#124; 2019 Election results &#124; 2019 European election results &#124; European Parliament|website=europarl.europa.eu|access-date=9 June 2019|archive-date=3 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603105508/https://election-results.eu/national-results/estonia/2019-2024/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Finland===
The largest Eurosceptic party in Finland is the [[Finns Party]]. In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Finland|European Parliament election, 2014]], the Finns Party increased their vote share by 3% to 13%, adding a second MEP. With their 39 seats, the Finns Party are also the second-biggest party in the 200-seat Finnish [[Eduskunta]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vaalit.yle.fi/ev2019/fi|title=Yle – Tulospalvelu – Koko maa – Eduskuntavaalit 2019 – Yle.fi|website=vaalit.yle.fi}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Finland|European Parliament election, 2019]], the Finns Party increased their vote share slightly from 13% to 14% and retained their 2 seats.

In its latest party platform written in 2019, the Finns Party is strongly opposed to further EU integration. The party proposes introducing a parallel currency within Finland in tandem with the Euro in order to phase out Finnish membership of the Eurozone and argues that while Finland is needed in the short-term in the European Parliament to defend Finland's interests, the country should also enact policies to help gradually withdraw Finland from the EU.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.perussuomalaiset.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EUpolitiikkaENG_2019.pdf |title=The Finn's European Union Policy |publisher=Finns Party|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref> During the [[2018 Finnish presidential election]], the Finns Party candidate [[Laura Huhtasaari]] stated that her campaign would support exiting the EU.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-finland-eurosceptics/presidential-hopeful-wants-finland-out-of-eu-says-nationalists-will-bounce-back-idUSKBN1E722V|title=Presidential hopeful wants Finland out of EU, says nationalists will bounce back |publisher=reuters |date= 13 December 2017 |access-date=21 April 2020}}</ref>

===France===
{{See also|Frexit}}
[[File:Le_Pen,_Marine-9586.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Marine Le Pen]], prominent French MEP, former leader and former presidential candidate of the [[National Front (France)]] and of the [[Europe of Nations and Freedom]] group]]

In France there are multiple parties that are Eurosceptic to different degrees, varying from advocating less EU intervention in national affairs, to advocating outright withdrawal from the EU and the Eurozone. These parties belong to all sides of the political spectrum, so the reasons for their Euroscepticism may differ. In the past many French people appeared to be uninterested in such matters, with only 40% of the French electorate voting in the [[2009 European Parliament election in France|2009 European Parliament elections]].<ref>{{cite news| language = fr | url= http://www.lemonde.fr/elections-europeennes/article/2009/06/07/europeennes-l-ump-en-tete-le-ps-en-fort-recul_1203615_1168667.html| title = Européenes : l'UMP en tête, le PS en fort recul |work=Le Monde|date=7 June 2010|access-date=12 February 2010}}</ref>

Right-wing Eurosceptic parties include the [[Gaullism|Gaullist]] [[Arise the Republic|''Debout la République'']], and ''[[Mouvement pour la France]]'', which was part of [[Libertas.eu|Libertas]], a pan-European Eurosceptic party.<ref>{{cite web |language= fr |url= http://www.eurosduvillage.eu/Europeennes-la-dynamique-inedite,2709.html |title= Européenes : la dynamique inédite du eurosceptcism |publisher= Euros du village |date= 29 April 2010 |access-date= 12 February 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101116045426/http://www.eurosduvillage.eu/Europeennes-la-dynamique-inedite,2709.html |archive-date= 16 November 2010 |url-status= dead }}</ref> In the [[2009 European Parliament election in France|2009 European Parliament elections]], Debout la République received 1.8% of the national vote, and Libertas 4.8%. In a similar way to some moderate parties, the French right and far-right in general are naturally opposed to the EU, as they criticise France's loss of political and economic sovereignty to a [[Supranational union|supranational]] entity. Some of these hard Eurosceptic parties include the [[Popular Republican Union (2007)|Popular Republican Union]] and [[The Patriots (France)|The Patriots]] and formerly the [[National Front (France)|Front National]] (FN).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frontnational.com/?page_id=1185|title=Europe|language=fr|publisher=Front National|access-date=12 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013135820/http://www.frontnational.com/?page_id=1185 |archive-date=13 October 2009}}</ref> Popular Republican Union seek France's withdrawal from the EU and the euro as well as France's withdrawal from NATO. The FN received 33.9% of the votes in the [[2017 French presidential election]], making it the largest Eurosceptic party in France. In June 2018, the National Front was renamed as National Rally (RN) and in 2019 dropped support for France leaving the European Union and the Eurozone from its manifesto, instead calling for "reform from within" the union.<ref>{{cite web|title=Le Rassemblement national abandonne définitivement la sortie de l'euro|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2019/01/16/01002-20190116ARTFIG00326-le-rn-abandonne-la-sortie-de-l-euro.php|website=lefigaro.fr|date=16 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/retreating-eurosceptics-now-settle-for-reforms-from-within/|title = Retreating Eurosceptics now settle for 'reforms from within'|date = 6 November 2019}}</ref>

Eurosceptic parties on the left in France tend to criticise what they see as the [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] agenda of the EU, as well as the elements of its structure which are undemocratic and seen as top-down. These parties include the [[Left Party (France)|''Parti de Gauche'']] and the [[French Communist Party]], which formed the [[Left Front (France)|''Front de Gauche'']] for the 2009 European Parliament elections and received 6.3% of the votes. The leader of the [[Left Front (France)|Left Front]] defends a complete reform of the Monetary Union, rather than the withdrawal of France from the [[Eurozone]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jean-luc-melenchon.fr/arguments/resolution-du-parti-de-gauche-sur-l%E2%80%99euro/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608142827/http://www.jean-luc-melenchon.fr/arguments/resolution-du-parti-de-gauche-sur-l%E2%80%99euro/|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 June 2011|title=Résolution du Parti de Gauche sur l'euro|publisher=Worldpress – Politique à Gauche|date=10 April 2011|access-date=29 July 2015|language=fr}}</ref> Some of the major far-left Eurosceptic parties in France include the [[New Anticapitalist Party]]<ref>{{cite web|language=fr|url=http://www.npa2009.org/content/leur-europe-nest-pas-la-n%C3%B4tre|title=Leur Europe n'est pas la nôtre !|publisher=NPA|date=19 May 2010|access-date=12 February 2010|archive-date=24 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524043258/http://www.npa2009.org/content/leur-europe-nest-pas-la-n%C3%B4tre|url-status=dead}}</ref> which received 4.8% and [[Workers' Struggle|Lutte Ouvrière]]<ref>{{cite web | language = fr | url = http://www.lutte-ouvriere.org/qui-sommes-nous/nos-idees/article/l-europe | title = L'Europe | publisher = Lutte Ouvrière | access-date = 12 February 2010 | archive-date = 8 October 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091008130826/http://www.lutte-ouvriere.org/qui-sommes-nous/nos-idees/article/l-europe | url-status = dead }}</ref> which received 1.2%. The [[Citizen and Republican Movement]], a left-wing Eurosceptic and [[Souverainism|souverainist]] party, have not participated in any elections for the European Parliament.

The party [[Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition|''Chasse, Pêche, Nature & Traditions'']], is an [[Agrarianism|agrarianist]] Eurosceptic party that says it is neither left nor right.

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in France|European Parliament election, 2014]], the [[National Front (France)|National Front]] won the elections with 24.9% of the vote, a swing of 18.6%, winning 24 seats, up from 3 previously. The former French President [[François Hollande]] had called for the EU to be reformed and for a scaling back of its power.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27579235 |title=EU election: France's Hollande calls for reform of 'remote' EU |publisher=BBC |date=27 May 2014 |access-date=28 January 2015}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in France|European Parliament election, 2019]], the renamed [[National Rally (France)|National Rally]] won the elections with 23.3% of the vote, winning 22 seats, down from 23 previously when their vote share was 24.9%.

===Germany===
{{Update|section|date=November 2017}}
[[File:Volksabstimmung über die Eurorettung.JPG|thumb|upright|"[[Referendum]] on saving the [[euro]]!" Poster from the party Alternative for Germany (AfD) regarding Germany's financial contributions during the [[Eurozone crisis]]]]
The [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD) is Germany's largest Eurosceptic party.<ref name="Parties-and-Elections">{{cite web|url=http://www.parties-and-elections.eu/germany.html|title= Parties and Election in Europe|date=2014}}</ref> It was elected into the [[Bundestag|German Parliament]] with 94 seats in September 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wahl.tagesschau.de/wahlen/2017-09-24-BT-DE/index.shtml |title=Bundestagswahl 2017 |publisher=Wahl.tagesschau.de |access-date=15 July 2019 |archive-date=9 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709192014/https://wahl.tagesschau.de/wahlen/2017-09-24-BT-DE/index.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> Initially the AfD was a soft Eurosceptic party, that considered itself pro-Europe and pro-EU, but opposed the euro, which it believed had undermined European integration, and called for reforms to the [[Eurozone]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Carla Bleiker|url=http://www.dw.com/en/german-party-says-no-to-the-euro-yes-to-the-eu/a-16660602|title=German party says 'no' to the euro, 'yes' to the EU|work=DW Online|date=11 March 2013|access-date=9 March 2016}}</ref>

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Germany|European Parliament election, 2014]], the Alternative for Germany came 5th with 7% of the vote, winning 7 seats and is a member of the Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Group. The Alternative for Germany went on to take seats in three state legislatures in the Autumn of 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29203423 |title=German anti-euro AfD party wins seats in east |work=BBC News |date=15 September 2014 |access-date=28 January 2015}}</ref>

The party became purely Eurosceptic in 2015, when an internal split occurred, leading to [[Frauke Petry]]'s leadership and a more hard-line approach to the European Union, including its calling for an end for German [[Eurozone]] membership, withdrawal from EU common asylum policies and significantly reducing the power of the EU with some AfD members supporting a complete exit from the EU altogether.<ref>{{cite news|title=AfD chief Lucke denies plans to split the party|url=http://www.dw.de/afd-chief-lucke-denies-plans-to-split-the-party/a-18460878|access-date=27 May 2015|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=19 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Reinforcing or moderating? The impact of Brexit on Italian and German Euroscepticism
|journal=Frontiers in Political Science|date=24 January 2024|doi=10.3389/fpos.2024.1063039 |doi-access=free |last1=Orlando |first1=Vittorio |last2=Conrad |first2=Maximilian |volume=6 }}</ref>

In July 2015 an AfD splinter group created a new soft Eurosceptic party called [[Alliance for Progress and Renewal]].

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Germany|European Parliament election, 2019]], the Alternative for Germany increased their vote share from 7% and 7 seats to 11% and 11 seats.

In the [[2021 German federal election|2021 German Federal Election]], AfD won 10.3% of the vote and 94 seats whereas in 2017, they received 12.6% of the vote and 83 seats; this meant they moved from third place to fifth place, falling behind the [[Alliance 90/The Greens|Green Party]] and [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|FDP]], both of which had been less popular than the AfD in 2017. Despite their overall electoral decline, the AfD still emerged as the largest in the states of [[Saxony]] and [[Thuringia]], and saw a strong performance in [[eastern Germany]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Results Germany - The Federal Returning Officer |url=https://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/en/bundestagswahlen/2021/ergebnisse/bund-99.html |access-date=8 June 2022 |website=www.bundeswahlleiter.de}}</ref>

===Greece===
{{Main|Greek withdrawal from the Eurozone|Greek government-debt crisis}}

[[Golden Dawn (political party)|Golden Dawn]], [[Communist Party of Greece]] (KKE), [[Greek Solution]], [[Independent Greeks|ANEL]], [[Course of Freedom]], [[Popular Unity (Greece)|Popular Unity]], and [[Popular Orthodox Rally|LAOS]] have been the main Eurosceptic parties in Greece. According to the [[London School of Economics]], Greece used to be the second most Eurosceptic country in the European Union, with 50% of Greeks thinking that their country has not benefited at all from the EU (only behind the UK). Meanwhile, 33% of Greeks viewed Greek membership in EU as a good thing, marginally ahead of the UK. 81% of Greeks felt that the EU was going in the wrong direction.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2 March 2013|title=The Eurozone crisis has increased soft Euroscepticism in Greece, where Greeks wish to remain in the euro, but no longer trust the EU.|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2013/03/02/greece-euroscepticism/|access-date=25 November 2020|website=Europp}}</ref> These figures represented a major increase in Euroscepticism in Greece since 2009.

In June 2012, the Eurosceptic parties in Greece that were represented in the parliament before the Election in January 2015 (ANEL, Golden Dawn, KKE) got 45.8% of the votes and 40.3% of the seats in the parliament. In the [[January 2015 Greek legislative election|legislative election of January 2015]] the [[pro-European]] (left and right-wing) parties ([[New Democracy (Greece)|ND]], [[PASOK]], [[The River (Greece)|Potami]], [[Movement of Democratic Socialists|KIDISO]], [[Union of Centrists|EK]] and [[Greens (Greece)|Prasinoi]]-[[Democratic Left (Greece)|DIMAR]]) got 43.3% of the votes. The Eurosceptic parties got 54.6%. The Eurosceptic left ([[Communist Party of Greece|KKE]], [[Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow|ANTARSYA-MARS]] and [[Communist Party of Greece (Marxist–Leninist)|KKE (M–L)]]/[[Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Greece|M–L KKE]]) got 42.6% of the votes and the Eurosceptic right ([[Golden Dawn (political party)|Golden Dawn]], [[Independent Greeks|ANEL]] and [[Popular Orthodox Rally|LAOS]]) got 12.1% of the votes, with Syriza ahead with 36.3%. The Eurosceptic parties got 194 seats in the new parliament and the pro-EU parties got 106 seats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ekloges-prev.singularlogic.eu/v2015a/v/public/index.html?lang=en#|title=Parliamentary Elections January 2015|publisher=Ministry of Interior|access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref>

According to the [[Next Greek legislative election#Opinion polls|polls conducted in June and July 2015]] (12 polls), the Eurosceptic left would get on average 48.0% (excluding extraparliamentary parties as ANTARSYA-MARS and KKE (m–l)/ML-KKE), the parliamentary pro-EU parties (Potami, New Democracy and PASOK) would get 33.8%, the extra-parliamentary (not represented in the Hellenic Parliament) pro-EU parties (KIDISO and EK) would get 4.4% and the Eurosceptic right would get 10.2% (excluding extraparliamentary parties, such as [[Popular Orthodox Rally|LAOS]], not displayed on recent opinion polls). The soft Eurosceptic parties would get 42.3%, the hard Eurosceptic parties (including [[KKE]], [[ANEL]] and [[Golden Dawn (political party)|Golden Dawn]]) would get 15.9%, and the pro-EU parties (including extra-parliamentary parties displayed on opinion polls) would get 38.3% of the votes.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Greece|European Parliament election, 2014]], [[Syriza]] won the election with 26.6% of the vote (a swing of 21.9%) taking 6 seats (up 5), with [[Golden Dawn (political party)|Golden Dawn]] coming 3rd taking 3 seats, the [[Communist Party of Greece|Communist Party]] taking 2 seats and the [[Independent Greeks]] gaining their first ever seat. Syriza's leader Tsipras said he's not anti-European and does not want to leave the euro. According to ''[[The Economist]]'', Tsipras is willing to negotiate with Greece's European partners, and it is believed a Syriza victory could encourage radical leftist parties across Europe. Alexis Tsipras vowed to reverse many of the austerity measures adopted by Greece since a series of bailouts began in 2010, at odds with the Eurogroup's positions.{{r|econ2015}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30975437 |title=BBC News Greece election: Anti-austerity Syriza wins election |work=BBC News |access-date=28 January 2015}}</ref>
The government coalition in Greece was composed by Syriza and [[Independent Greeks|ANEL]] (right-wing hard Eurosceptic party, led by [[Panos Kammenos]], who is the current Minister of Defence).

Euroscepticism has softened in Greece as the economy improved. According to a research in early 2018, 68% of Greeks judge as positive the participation of Greece in the EU (instead of 53.5% in 2017).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fortunegreece.com/article/ti-pistevoun-i-ellines-gia-tin-evropaiki-enosi-mia-megali-erevna-tis-dianeosis/|title=Tι πιστεύουν οι Έλληνες για την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση: Μια μεγάλη έρευνα της διαΝΕΟσις|date=24 March 2018}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Greece|European Parliament election, 2019]], the New Democracy movement, beat the ruling left-wing Syriza formation with 33.1% and 23.8% of the vote respectively, maintaining Syriza's 6 seats and prompting the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to call a [[2019 Greek legislative election|legislative election]] on 7 July 2019. In this election, which was won by ND, the pro-European parties (ND, SYRIZA, KINAL, MeRA25, and the extra-parliamentary Union of Centrists and Recreate Greece) got 84.9% of the vote and the Eurosceptic parties (KKE, Greek Solution, the extraparliamentary Golden Dawn and a host of other small mainly left-wing parties) got 15.1%. That drastic change in the balance is mostly the result of SYRIZA abandoning Euroscepticism.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===Hungary===
{{See also|Hungarian withdrawal from the European Union}}
[[File:OrbanViktor 2011-01-07.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Viktor Orbán]], [[Prime Minister of Hungary]] ]]
[[File:Csatlakozás ellenes hirdetés SZMM.JPG|thumb|right|An anti-EU poster in Hungary]]
[[Viktor Orbán]] is the soft Eurosceptic<ref>Batory, A. (2008) 'Euroscepticism in the Hungarian Party System: Voices from the Wilderness?' In Taggart, P. and Szczerbiak, A. (eds).</ref> [[Prime Minister of Hungary]] for the national-conservative [[Fidesz]] Party. Another Eurosceptic party that was present in Hungary was [[Jobbik]], which until around 2016, was identified as a [[Political radicalism|radical]] and [[Far-right politics|far-right]] party. Those far-right factions, who left Jobbik, decided to form the [[Our Homeland Movement]] party.

In 2015, 39% of the Hungarian population had a positive image of the EU, 20% had a negative image, and 40% neutral (1% "Don't know").<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, EU image"/>

In the [[2014 Hungarian parliamentary election]], Fidesz got 44.5% of the votes, Jobbik got 20.5% of the votes and the communist [[Hungarian Workers' Party]] got 0.6% of the votes. Thus at the time, Eurosceptic parties in Hungary obtained 65.7% of the votes, one of the highest figures in Europe.

The green-liberal [[Politics Can Be Different]] (Lehet Más a Politika, LMP) classifies as a soft or reformist Eurosceptic party given its self-professed ''euro-critical'' stance. During the [[2014 European Parliament election|European parliamentary campaign of 2014]] party Co-president [[András Schiffer]] described LMP as having a pronounced pro-integration position on [[Environmental policy of the European Union|environmental]], wage and [[European labour law|labour]] policy as supporting member state autonomy on the self-determination of local communities concerning land resources. So as to combat the [[differentiated integration]] of the [[multi-speed Europe]] which discriminates against Eastern and Southern member states, LMP would like to initiate an [[eco-social market economy]] within the union.<ref>{{cite web|title=hu:Új politikai hangnemet szorgalmaz az LMP|trans-title=LMP to encourage new political voice|language=hu|url=http://www.hirado.hu/videok/?video=116590|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513040417/http://www.hirado.hu/videok/?video=116590 |archive-date=13 May 2014|publisher=Hungarian News Broadcast|date=17 April 2014|access-date=22 April 2014}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Hungary|European Parliament election, 2019]], Fidesz consolidated their position by increasing their vote share to 51.5% and adding a seat to take their tally to 13. Former Eurosceptic (now pro-European) Jobbik dropped to 6.3% of the votes, losing 2 of its 3 seats. The [[Momentum Movement]], a newly created pro-European party, came 3rd with 9.3% of the vote, with the strongly pro-European [[Democratic Coalition (Hungary)|Democratic Coalition]] coming second with 16.1% of the vote. [[Our Homeland Movement]] got 3.3% of the votes, gaining no seats.

===Ireland===
{{Main|Euroscepticism in the Republic of Ireland}}
Euroscepticism is a minority view in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], with opinion polls from 2016 to 2018 indicating growing support for EU membership, moving from 70% to 92% in that time.<ref name = newstalk>{{cite web|url = http://www.newstalk.com/Ireland-EU-membership-poll-Brexit-UK-referendum-Red-C-European-Movement-Ireland | publisher = NewsTalk | title = Almost 80% say Ireland should stay in the EU, even if UK leaves | date= 29 May 2015 | quote = According to the poll, 84% of adults here also believe that Ireland has, on balance, benefited from membership. [..] These figures are higher than those in a similar poll carried out in 2013}}</ref><ref name="postbrexitpoll">{{cite web|url=http://www.newstalk.com/Brexit-Ireland-opinion-poll-Britain-economy-Northern-Ireland-referendum-EU|title=Over 60% of people say the EU is more important to Ireland than the UK|work=newstalk.com|access-date=19 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/strong-majority-want-a-minister-for-brexit-according-to-poll-1.2955473?mode=amp|title=Strong majority want a Minister for Brexit, according to poll|website=irishtimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/ireland/news/Eurobarometer-Ireland-national-results_en|title=Little public support for "Irexit" – Latest national Eurobarometer results|first=Grainne|last=Galvin|date=27 February 2017|website=Ireland – European Commission}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0509/873610-eu_poll/ |title=Poll suggests 88% of Irish people want Ireland in EU |journal=RTÉ News|date=9 May 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-leave-eu-poll-february-2018-3836085-Feb2018/ | publisher = The Journal | title = Should Ireland leave the EU? New poll shows only 10% of voters would back 'Irexit' | date = 10 February 2018 }}</ref><ref name="DFAtweet">{{cite tweet |user=dfatirl |author-link=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Ireland) |number=993838618606211072 |date=8 May 2018 |title=Support for Ireland remaining in the EU has jumped to over 90%}}</ref>

The [[Irish people]] initially voted against ratifying the Nice and Lisbon Treaties. Following renegotiations, second referendums on both were passed with approximately 2:1 majorities in both cases.<ref name="SinnottElkink">{{cite web|author1=Richard Sinnott|author2=Johan A. Elkink|url=http://dfa.ie/uploads/documents/EU%20Division/attitudes%20and%20behaviour%20second%20referendum2010.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225100546/http://dfa.ie/uploads/documents/EU%20Division/attitudes%20and%20behaviour%20second%20referendum2010.pdf |archive-date=25 December 2010|title=Attitudes and Behaviour in the Second Referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon|publisher=[[Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Ireland)|Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland]]|date=July 2010}}</ref> Some commentators and smaller political groups questioned the validity of the Irish Government's decision to call second referendums.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.peoplebeforeprofit.ie/node/156 |title=Lisbon Treaty is unchanged and must be rejected |publisher=peoplebeforeprofit.ie |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604231511/http://archive.peoplebeforeprofit.ie/node/156 |archive-date=4 June 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irsp.ie/Statements/irsp_cur.html |title=Oppose Second Referendum:But Urge a No Vote |publisher=IRSP |access-date=16 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519003450/http://www.irsp.ie/Statements/irsp_cur.html |archive-date=19 May 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The left-wing [[Irish republican]] party [[Sinn Féin]] expresses [[Soft Euroscepticism|soft Eurosceptic]] positions on the current structure of the European Union and the direction in which it is moving.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sinnfein.ie/files/2016/GE2016ElectionManifesto.pdf|title=General Election Manifesto 2016|website=Sinn Féin|page=30|access-date=1 May 2018|quote=Recent governments have been totally deferential to the EU and its most powerful member states. ...[W]e will: uphold the right of democratically elected governments to decide their social and economic priorities in the interests of their own people; seek to return powers to EU member states and increase the influence of member state parliaments in the EU legislative process; support reforms of the EU which are aimed at reducing the power of the European Commission, making it more transparent and accountable to the European and member state parliaments; and increasing the influence of smaller member states.|archive-date=5 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241205080358/https://www.sinnfein.ie/files/2016/GE2016ElectionManifesto.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The party expresses, "support for Europe-wide measures that promote and enhance human rights, equality and [[United Ireland|the all-Ireland agenda]]", but has a "principled opposition" to a [[European superstate]].<ref name="Bean2008">{{cite book|last=Bean|first=Kevin|title=The New Politics of Sinn Fein|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g7AgCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA171|access-date=9 March 2016|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-1781387801|page=171}}</ref> In its manifesto for the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 UK general election]], Sinn Féin pledged that the party would campaign for the UK to stay within the EU.<ref name="Irish Times EU">{{cite news|last1=Moriarty|first1=Gerry|title=SF says North should be able stay in EU in a Brexit|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=20 April 2015|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/sf-says-north-should-be-able-stay-in-eu-in-a-brexit-1.2182397|access-date=29 January 2016}}</ref> In [[2019 European Parliament election in Ireland|the 2019 European Parliament election]], Sinn Féin won one seat and 11.7% of the vote, down 7.8%.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnston |first=Samuel A. T. |date=2 January 2020 |title=The 2019 European Parliament elections in Ireland |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07907184.2019.1652165 |journal=Irish Political Studies |language=en |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=18–28 |doi=10.1080/07907184.2019.1652165 |s2cid=210559430 |issn=0790-7184|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The [[Socialist Party (Ireland)|Socialist Party]], a [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] organisation, supports Ireland leaving the EU and supported the [[Brexit]] result.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://socialistparty.ie/2016/06/ireland-brexit-and-why-the-eu-must-be-opposed/|title=Ireland, Brexit and why the EU must be opposed|publisher=Socialist Party|date=28 June 2016|access-date=10 February 2017}}</ref> It argues that the European Union is institutionally capitalist and neoliberal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://socialistparty.ie/2015/06/eu-a-force-for-progress-or-profits/|title=EU – A force for progress or profits?|publisher=Socialist Party|date=17 June 2015|access-date=10 February 2017}}</ref> The Socialist Party campaigned against the Lisbon and Nice Treaties and favours the foundation of an alternative Socialist European Union.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://socialistparty.ie/2012/04/for-a-european-struggle-against-austerity-for-a-socialist-europe/|title=For a European struggle against austerity – For a socialist Europe|publisher=Socialist Party|date=20 April 2012|access-date=10 February 2017}}</ref>

===Italy===
{{Redirect|Italexit|the political party with this name|Italexit (political party)}}
The [[Five Star Movement]] (M5S), an [[anti-establishment]] movement founded by comedian [[Beppe Grillo]], originally set itself out as a Eurosceptic party. The M5S received 25.5% of vote in the [[2013 Italian general election|2013 general election]], becoming the largest anti-establishment and Eurosceptic party in Europe. The party used to advocate a non-binding referendum on the withdrawal of Italy from the [[Eurozone]] (but not from the European Union) and the return to the [[Italian lira|lira]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corriere.it/politica/13_maggio_23/grillo-euro-referendum_9fe952ea-c39b-11e2-8072-09f5b2e9767e.shtml |title=Grillo: «Referendum sull'euro entro un anno |work=Corriere della Sera |access-date=28 January 2015|date=23 May 2013 }}</ref> Since then, the party has toned down its eurosceptic rhetoric<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/03/06/italys-radical-new-leaders-denounce-eu-brexit-strategy-foolish/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/03/06/italys-radical-new-leaders-denounce-eu-brexit-strategy-foolish/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live
|newspaper= The Telegraph |first=Ambrose |last=Evans-Pritchard |date=9 January 2018 |title= Italy's new radicals denounce EU Brexit strategy as foolish dogma}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and such policy was rejected in 2018,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iltempo.it/politica/2018/01/09/news/di-maio-fa-dietrofront-non-e-piu-il-momento-di-uscire-dall-euro-1043904/|title=Di Maio fa dietrofront: "Non è più il momento di uscire dall'euro"|newspaper=Il Tempo|date=9 January 2018}}</ref> and the M5S's leader has since stated that the "European Union is the Five Star Movement's home", clarifying that the party wants Italy to stay in the EU, even though it remains critical of some of its treaties.<ref>{{cite news|last=Salvatori|first=Pietro|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.it/2018/02/06/luigi-di-maio-rottama-la-politica-estera-a-5-stelle_a_23354144/|title=Luigi Di Maio torna a casa Europa e rottama la politica estera a 5 stelle|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=6 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date= 25 September 2017 |title= New Five Star Movement leader: 'We want to stay in the EU' |url= https://www.thelocal.it/20170925/new-five-star-movement-leader-says-the-party-wants-italy-to-stay-in-eu |work= The Local (Italy edition)  |access-date= 30 December 2019}}</ref> The M5S's popular support is distributed all across Italy: in the [[2018 Italian general election|2018 general election]] the party won 32.7% of the popular vote nationwide, and was particularly successful in [[Central Italy|central]] and [[southern Italy]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Populists vie for power after Italy vote |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43272700 |access-date=31 December 2019 |date=5 March 2018}}</ref>

A party that retains a Eurosceptic identity is the [[Lega Nord|Northern League]] (LN), a [[regionalism (politics)|regionalist]] movement led by [[Matteo Salvini]] favouring Italy's exit from the Eurozone and the re-introduction of the lira. When in government, Lega approved the [[Treaty of Lisbon]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Maurizio |last=Caprara |title= Passa all'unanimità il Trattato europeo |url= http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2008/luglio/24/Passa_all_unanimita_Trattato_europeo_co_9_080724090.shtml |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110722032012/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2008/luglio/24/Passa_all_unanimita_Trattato_europeo_co_9_080724090.shtml |archive-date= 22 July 2011 |work=[[Corriere della Sera]] |location=Milan |date=24 July 2008}}</ref> The party won 6.2% of the vote in the [[2014 European Parliament election in Italy|2014 European Parliament elections]], but two of its leading members are presidents of [[Lombardy]] and [[Veneto]] (where Lega gained 40.9% of the vote in [[2015 Venetian regional election|2015]]).

[[File:No Euro Day, Milano 23 nov 2013 22 (cropped).JPG|350px|thumb|[[Matteo Salvini]] with the Eurosceptic economists [[Claudio Borghi Aquilini]], [[Alberto Bagnai]] and [[Antonio Maria Rinaldi]] during the ''No Euro Day'' in Milan, 2013. All economists were later elected MPs in different assemblies]]

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Italy|2014 European Parliament election]] the Five Star Movement came second, with 17 seats and 21.2% of the vote after contesting EP seats for the first time. Northern League had five seats and [[The Other Europe|The Other Europe with Tsipras]] had three seats.

Other minor Eurosceptic organizations include right-wing political parties (e.g., [[Brothers of Italy]],<ref>{{cite news|date=2 June 2017|title=The small political parties that risk obliteration under Italy's new electoral law|url=https://www.thelocal.it/20170602/the-small-political-parties-at-risk-under-italys-new-electoral-law|work=[[The Local]]|access-date=16 August 2017}}</ref> [[Tricolour Flame]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fiammatricolore.com/chi-siamo/programma/|title=Programma del Movimento La Fiamma Tricolore|publisher=[[Tricolour Flame]]|access-date=16 August 2017|language=it|trans-title=Programme of the Movement Tricolour Flame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816192910/http://www.fiammatricolore.com/chi-siamo/programma/|archive-date=16 August 2017|url-status=usurped}}</ref> [[New Force (Italy)|New Force]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ordinefuturo.net/2016/09/28/la-nuova-europa-sorge-a-est-intervista-a-roberto-fiore/|title=Intervista a Roberto Fiore|last=Durantini|first=Ermanno|date=28 September 2016|access-date=16 August 2017|language=it|trans-title=Interview with Roberto Fiore|archive-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816222721/http://ordinefuturo.net/2016/09/28/la-nuova-europa-sorge-a-est-intervista-a-roberto-fiore/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[National Front (Italy, 1997)|National Front]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frontenazionale.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=782:solidarieta-ed-unione-europea&catid=47&Itemid=790|title=Solidarietà ed Unione Europea|date=21 January 2017|publisher=[[National Front (Italy, 1997)|National Front]]|access-date=16 August 2017|language=it|trans-title=Solidarity and the European Unione}}</ref> [[CasaPound]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.casapounditalia.org/2014/03/intervista-simone-di-stefano-sullunione.html|title=Intervista a Simone Di Stefano sull'Unione europea|publisher=[[CasaPound]]|access-date=16 August 2017|language=it|trans-title=Interview with Simone Di Stefano on [[European Union]]|archive-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816232644/http://www.casapounditalia.org/2014/03/intervista-simone-di-stefano-sullunione.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[National Movement for Sovereignty]], the [[No Euro Movement]]), far-left political parties (e.g., the [[Communist Party (Italy)|Communist Party]] of [[Marco Rizzo]],<ref>{{YouTube|id=BeHALk8Irfc|title=''Marco Rizzo rips a copy of the Treaty of Rome (in Italian)''}}</ref> the [[Italian Communist Party (2016)|Italian Communist Party]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilpartitocomunistaitaliano.it/2017/03/20/il-pci-alla-manifestazione-del-25-marzo-contro-lue-e-la-nato/|title=Il PCI alla manifestazione del 25 Marzo contro l'UE e la NATO|date=20 March 2017|publisher=[[Italian Communist Party (2016)|Italian Communist Party]]|access-date=16 August 2017|language=it|archive-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816234212/https://www.ilpartitocomunistaitaliano.it/2017/03/20/il-pci-alla-manifestazione-del-25-marzo-contro-lue-e-la-nato/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the political movement [[Power to the People (Italy)|Power to the People]]) and other political movements (e.g., the Sovereignist Front,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.riconquistarelasovranita.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Documenti-ufficiali-FSI-1.pdf|title=Atto costitutivo e statuto|publisher= Sovereignist Front|access-date=16 August 2017|language=it}}</ref> [[Modern Monetary Theory|MMT]] Italy<ref>{{cite web|url=http://memmt.info/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/paper01_unione_europea.pdf|title=L'Unione europea|publisher=[[Modern Monetary Theory|MMT]] Italy|access-date=16 August 2017|language=it|trans-title=The European Union|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816192921/http://memmt.info/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/paper01_unione_europea.pdf|archive-date=16 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>). In addition, the European Union is criticized (especially for the [[austerity]] and the creation of the [[euro]]) by some left-wing thinkers, like the [[trade unionist]] Giorgio Cremaschi<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.it/giorgio-cremaschi/il-fallimento-delleuro_b_2905813.html|title=Il fallimento dell'euro|last=Cremaschi|first=Giorgio|date=20 March 2013|access-date=16 August 2017|language=it|trans-title=The failure of the euro}}</ref> and the journalist [[Paolo Barnard]],<ref>{{YouTube|id=L42p1C2Mm2o|title=''Paolo Barnard: "Italexit, now!" (in Italian)''}}</ref> and some [[academic]]s, such as [[Alberto Bagnai]]<ref>{{cite news|date=16 March 2017|title=Will Italy be next to reverse out of the EU|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/will-italy-be-next-to-reverse-out-of-the-eu-1.3013345|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://euobserver.com/eu-elections/123906|title=Anti-euro talk spreads in Italy|last=Armellini|first=Alvise|date=24 April 2015|publisher=[[EUobserver]]|access-date=16 August 2017}}</ref>  the philosopher [[Diego Fusaro]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beppegrillo.it/en/2015/08/passaparola_euromaniacs_the_re.html|title=Passaparola – Euromaniacs? The real buzz is to say no, by Diego Fusaro|publisher=Beppe Grillo' Blog|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816193635/http://www.beppegrillo.it/en/2015/08/passaparola_euromaniacs_the_re.html|archive-date=16 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to the Standard [[Eurobarometer]] 87 conducted by the [[European Commission]] in spring 2017, 48% of Italians tend not to trust the [[European Union]] compared to 36% of Italians who do.<ref name="eurobarometer87">{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/STANDARD/yearFrom/1974/surveyKy/2142|title=Standard Eurobarometer 87|publisher=[[European Commission]]|access-date=17 August 2017}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Italy|2019 European election]], the Italian Eurosceptic and [[souverainism|souverainist]] right-wing, represented in large part by the League, increased its number of seats in the EP, but was not assigned any presidency in the [[committees of the European Parliament]].<ref>{{cite web|language=it|title=Ai sovranisti nessuna Commissione del Parlamento europeo |trans-title=No committees of European Parliament to souverainists)|date=10 July 2019|website=lettera43|access-date=15 August 2019|url=https://www.lettera43.it/parlamento-europeo-commissioni-sovranisti-presidenza/?refresh_ce}}</ref> Despite its national political alliance with the League during the [[Conte I Cabinet|Conte Cabinet]], the [[Five Star Movement]] voted for [[Ursula von der Leyen]], member of pro-EU [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]], as [[President of the European Commission]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/eu-elections-2019/news/von-der-leyen-vote-may-trigger-snap-elections-in-italy/|title=Von der Leyen vote may trigger snap elections in Italy|date=18 July 2019|access-date=15 August 2019|website=[[Euractiv]]}}</ref>

In July 2020, senator [[Gianluigi Paragone]] formed [[Italexit (political party)|Italexit]], a new political party with a main goal to withdraw Italy from the European Union.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Amante | first1=Angelo | title=Italexit! Popular senator launches party to take Italy out of EU | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-politics-italexit/italexit-popular-senator-launches-party-to-take-italy-out-of-eu-idUSKCN24M1N8 | date=21 July 2020 | work=[[Reuters]] | access-date=21 July 2020}}</ref>

===Latvia===
The [[National Alliance (Latvia)|National Alliance]] ([[For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK]]/[[All for Latvia!]]), [[Union of Greens and Farmers]] and [[For Latvia from the Heart]] are parties that are described by some political commentators as bearing soft Eurosceptic views.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.la.lv/eiroskepticisms-no-ideologijas-par-politisku-lidzekli/|title=Eiroskepticisms – no ideoloģijas par politisku līdzekli|language=lv}}</ref> A small hard Eurosceptic party {{interlanguage link|Eurosceptic Party of Action|lv|Eiroskeptiķu Rīcības partija|vertical-align=sup}} exists, but it has failed to gain any administrative seats throughout history of its existence.

===Lithuania===
The [[Order and Justice]] party had mainly Eurosceptic views.<ref name="Ivaldi">{{Citation |first=Gilles |last=Ivaldi |title=The Populist Radical Right in European Elections 1979–2009 |work=The Extreme Right in Europe: Current Trends and Perspectives |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |year=2011 |page=19}}</ref>

===Luxembourg===
The [[Alternative Democratic Reform Party]] is a soft Eurosceptic party.<ref>{{cite report |format=PDF |url=http://www.chd.lu/wps/wcm/connect/57c4e7804e295e05b6adf7010df100bc/Rapport_complet_elections2004.pdf?MOD=AJPERES |author1=Patrick Dumont |author2=Fernand Fehlen |author3=Raphaël Kies |author4=Philippe Poirier |title=Les élections législatives et européennes de 2004 au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg|trans-title=The Legislative and European elections in 2004 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg|language=fr|publisher=[[Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg|Chamber of Deputies]]|page=220|date=January 2006|access-date=9 March 2016}}</ref> It is a member of the [[Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists]].

===Malta===
The Labour Party was not in favour of Malta entering the European Union. It was in favour of a partnership with the EU. After a long battle, the Nationalist Party led by Eddie Fenech Adami won the referendum and the following election, making Malta one of the states to enter the European Union on 1 May 2004. The party is now pro-European. Nowadays the [[People's Party (Malta)|People's Party]] often adopts Eurosceptic views.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===Netherlands===
{{See also|Dutch withdrawal from the European Union}}
[[File:Geert Wilders op Prinsjesdag 2014 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Geert Wilders]], leader of the [[Party for Freedom]], a hardline Dutch Eurosceptic party that has been criticised as [[Anti-Polish sentiment|anti-Polish]] and [[Islamophobia|Islamophobic]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Subramanian |first=Samanth |date=9 March 2017 |title=Could the anti-Islam Party for Freedom come out on top in upcoming Netherlands election? |url=http://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/could-the-anti-islam-party-for-freedom-come-out-on-top-in-upcoming-netherlands-election |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318085339/http://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/could-the-anti-islam-party-for-freedom-come-out-on-top-in-upcoming-netherlands-election |archive-date=18 March 2017 |access-date=16 April 2017 |website=The National}}</ref><ref name="Thompson">{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Wayne C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlgtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA185 |title=Western Europe 2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=9781475812305 |page=185 |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=23 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123135516/https://books.google.com/books?id=KlgtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA185#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
Historically, the Netherlands have been a very pro-European country, being one of the six founding members of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] in 1952, and campaigning with much effort to include the United Kingdom into the Community in the 1970s and others after that. It has become slightly more Eurosceptic in the 2000s, [[2005 Dutch European Constitution referendum|rejecting the European Constitution in 2005]] and complaining about the relatively high financial investment into the Union or the democratic deficit amongst other issues.

A number of hard and soft eurosceptic parties have politicians elected to the Dutch House of Representatives and European Parliament which include:
* The nationalist [[Party for Freedom]] (founded in 2006) is a hard-eurosceptic party and wants the Netherlands to leave the EU in its entirety, because it believes the EU is undemocratic, costs money and cannot close the borders for immigrants.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://nos.nl/artikel/649997-pvv-eu-droom-is-nu-nachtmerrie.html |title=PVV: EU-droom is nu nachtmerrie |publisher=NOS |date=19 May 2014 |access-date=26 May 2014|language=nl}}</ref>
* The conservative and right-wing populist [[Forum for Democracy]] (FvD) party was originally founded by [[Thierry Baudet]] as a think tank to campaign against the [[Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement|Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine]]. In 2016, the FvD was established as a fully fledged party. It is opposed to many of the policies of the [[European Union]] and calls for a referendum on Dutch membership in which it would endorse withdrawal.
* The conservative-liberal [[JA21]] party (founded in 2021 as a splinter from the FvD) is opposed to Dutch participation several [[European Union]] agreements, including its immigration and asylum policies, and believes Dutch identity and self-determination should be prioritized above the EU. It supports Dutch withdrawal from the [[Eurozone]] and for the Netherlands to exit EU treaties it deems a threat to national sovereignty.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ja21.nl/standpunten/eu.php |title=EU en euro - Standpunten - Ja21! - Het Juiste Antwoord |access-date=19 January 2022 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118102647/https://ja21.nl/standpunten/eu.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> 
* The [[Socialist Party (Netherlands)|Socialist Party]] believes the European Union has already brought Europe 50 years of peace and prosperity and argues that European co-operation is essential for tackling global problems like climate change and international crime. The SP opines that the current Union is dominated by the big businesses and the big countries, while the labour movement, consumer organisations and smaller companies are often left behind. "Neoliberal" measures have supposedly increased social inequality, and perhaps the Union is expanding too fast and taking on too much power in issues that should be dealt with on a national level.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sp.nl/europa/standpunten/europa/standpunten/cd_63/standpunt_over_europese_unie_superstaat_nee_samenwerken_ja.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524220650/http://www.sp.nl/europa/standpunten/europa/standpunten/cd_63/standpunt_over_europese_unie_superstaat_nee_samenwerken_ja.html |archive-date=24 May 2014 |title=Standpunt: Europese Unie – superstaat nee, samenwerken ja |publisher=SP website |access-date=26 May 2014|language=nl}}</ref>
* The conservative Protestant [[Reformed Political Party]] and the [[ChristianUnion|Christian Union]] favour co-operation within Europe, but reject a superstate, especially one that is dominated by Catholics, or that infringes on religious rights and/or privileges.
* The pensioner's interest party [[50PLUS]] is moderately Eurosceptic.
* The ecologist [[Party for the Animals]] favours European co-operation, but believes the current EU does not respect animal rights enough and should have a more active policy on environment protection.
* The agrarian and rural interests [[Farmer–Citizen Movement]] (BBB) was founded in 2019 and is a soft-eurosceptic party. It supports membership of the EU for economic and trade purposes, but argues the political power of the EU should be stripped back so the bloc is closer to the model of the former EEC, wants reforms made to the Eurozone and is against the EU becoming a superstate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://boerburgerbeweging.nl/standpunten/gezonde-boeren/ |title=Healthy farmers With each other, for each other! |access-date=22 April 2022}}</ref>

A prominent former Eurosceptic party in the Netherlands was the [[Pim Fortuyn List]] (LPF) established by politician and academic [[Pim Fortuyn]] in 2002. The party campaigned to reduce Dutch financial contributions to the EU, was against Turkish membership and opposed what it saw as the excessive bureaucracy and threat to national sovereignty posed by the EU. During the [[2002 Dutch general election|2002 general election]], the LPF polled in second place with 17% of the vote. Following the assassination of Fortuyn in the run-up to the election, support for the party declined soon after and it was disbanded in 2008 with many of its former supporters transferring to the [[Party for Freedom]].

Despite these concerns, in 2014 the majority of the Dutch electorate continued to support parties that favour ongoing European integration: the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Social Democrats]], the [[Christian Democratic Appeal|Christian Democrats]], the [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy|Liberals]], but most of all the [[Democrats 66|(Liberal) Democrats]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://nos.nl/artikel/651490-stemden-we-voor-of-tegen-europa.html |title=Stemden we voor of tegen Europa? |publisher=NOS |date=23 May 2014 |access-date=26 May 2014|language=nl}}</ref>

In 2016, a substantial majority in a low-turnout referendum rejected the ratification of an EU trade and association treaty with [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/06/dutch-voters-reject-closer-eu-links-to-ukraine-in-referendum|title=Dutch referendum voters overwhelmingly reject closer EU links to Ukraine|agency=[[Reuters]]|location=Amsterdam|work=The Guardian|date=7 April 2016|access-date=7 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35984821|title=Dutch referendum a difficult result for EU and Ukraine|work=BBC News|date=7 April 2016|access-date=7 April 2016}}</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands|2019 European Parliament election]], Eurosceptic parties had mixed results with [[Geert Wilders]]' [[Party for Freedom]] losing all 4 of its seats taking only 3.5% of the vote. The new [[Forum for Democracy]] established in late 2016 took 11.0% of the vote and entered the European Parliament with 3 seats.

===Poland===
{{See also|Polexit}}
The main parties with Eurosceptic views are [[Law and Justice]] (PiS), [[United Poland]] (SP) and the [[Confederation Liberty and Independence]] and the main Eurosceptic politicians include [[Ryszard Bender]], [[Andrzej Grzesik]], [[Krzysztof Bosak]], [[Dariusz Grabowski]], [[Janusz Korwin-Mikke]], [[Marian Kowalski (politician)|Marian Kowalski]], [[Paweł Kukiz]], [[Zbigniew Ziobro]], [[Anna Sobecka]], [[Robert Winnicki]], [[Artur Zawisza]], and [[Stanisław Żółtek]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Former president of Poland [[Lech Kaczyński]] resisted giving his signature on behalf of Poland to the [[Treaty of Lisbon]], objecting specifically to the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]]. Subsequently, Poland got an [[opt-out]] from this charter. As Polish President, Kaczyński also opposed the Polish government's intentions to join the [[euro]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Hilary White|url=http://catholicexchange.com/poland-ratifies-lisbon-treaty-with-opt-out-from-eu-human-rights-charter|title=Poland Ratifies Lisbon Treaty with Opt-Out from EU Human Rights Charter|publisher=Catholic Exchange – Sophia Institute Press|date=9 April 2008|access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090525/business/polish-president-slams-government-eurozone-drive.258301|title=Polish President slams government eurozone drive|work=The Times|location=Malta|date=25 May 2009|access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Uroczystość odsłonięcia tablicy upamiętniającej śp. Prezydenta RP Lecha Kaczyńskiego (4).jpg|thumb|Polish President [[Andrzej Duda]], Polish Prime Minister [[Mateusz Morawiecki]] and [[Jarosław Kaczyński]], 9 April 2018]]

In 2015, it was reported that Euroscepticism was growing in Poland, which was thought to be due to the "economic crisis, concern over perceived interference from Brussels and migration".{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} Polish president [[Andrzej Duda]] indicated that he wished for Poland to step back from further EU integration. He suggested that the country should "hold a referendum on joining the euro, resist further integration and fight the EU's green policies", despite getting the largest share of EU cash.<ref>[http://www.euronews.com/2015/07/08/poland-is-biggest-beneficiary-of-eu-funds-so-why-is-euroscepticism-on-the-rise Poland 'more anti-Brussels' despite getting largest share of EU cash]. Euronews. Author – Chris Harris. Last updated 8 July 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2017.</ref>

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Poland|2019 European Parliament election]], the Law and Justice party won the largest number of seats, with a vote share increase up from 31.8% to 45.4%, increasing its seats from 19 to 27.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wybory do Parlamentu Europejskiego 2019 |url=https://pe2019.pkw.gov.pl/pe2019/en/wyniki/pl |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=pe2019.pkw.gov.pl |language=pl}}</ref>

[[File:Trumna dla rybaków2.jpg|thumb|upright|''"Trumna dla rybaków"'' ("Coffin for fishermen"). A sign visible on the sides of many Polish fishing boats. It depicts an [[fig sign|obscene Slavic gesture]]. Polish fishermen protest against the [[Cod#management|EU's prohibition of cod fishing]] on Polish ships.]]

In 2019, the former [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]] [[Stanisław Żółtek]] created a political party called PolEXIT, whose flagship ideology is Euroscepticism.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 October 2019 |title=#PolEXIT stał się faktem. Powstała partia o takiej nazwie. {{!}} Kongres Nowej Prawicy |url=https://knp.org.pl/polexit-stal-sie-faktem-powstala-partia-o-takiej-nazwie/ |access-date=17 August 2022 |language=Polish |archive-date=15 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015151449/https://knp.org.pl/polexit-stal-sie-faktem-powstala-partia-o-takiej-nazwie/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Its candidate for [[president of Poland]] in the [[2020 Polish presidential election|2020 elections]] was the party's leader, Żółtek,<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 May 2020 |title=Stanisław Żółtek kandydatem na Prezydenta RP {{!}} Kongres Nowej Prawicy |url=https://knp.org.pl/stanislaw-zoltek-kandydatem-na-prezydenta-rp/ |access-date=17 August 2022 |language=Polish |archive-date=8 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508143834/https://knp.org.pl/stanislaw-zoltek-kandydatem-na-prezydenta-rp/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> who got 45 419 votes (0.23%), ranking 7th out of 11 candidates and did not qualify to the second round.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wybory Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w 2020 r. |url=https://prezydent20200628.pkw.gov.pl/prezydent20200628/pl/wyniki/pl |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=prezydent20200628.pkw.gov.pl |language=pl}}</ref>

===Portugal===
The main Eurosceptic parties in Portugal are [[Chega (political party)|Chega]], the [[Portuguese Communist Party]] (PCP), and [[Left Bloc (Portugal)|Left Bloc]] (BE). Opinion polling in Portugal in 2015 indicated that 48 per cent tended not to trust the EU,<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Trust in EU"/> while 79 per cent tended not to trust the Portuguese government (then led by [[Portugal Ahead]]).<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Trust in national government"/> Eurosceptic political parties hold a combined total of 23 seats out of 230 in [[Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)|Portugal's parliament]] (BE 5, PCP 6, PNR 0, CHEGA 12) and a combined total of 4 out of Portugal's 21 seats in the European Parliament (PCP 2, BE 2, PNR 0, CHEGA 0).

In the last [[2014 European Parliament election]], the [[Portuguese Communist Party]] won three seats and the [[Left Bloc (Portugal)|Left Bloc]] won one seat.

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Portugal|2019 European Parliament election]], [[Left Bloc (Portugal)|Left Bloc]] took 9.8% and gained 1 seat, [[Portuguese Communist Party]] working in coalition with [[Ecologist Party "The Greens"]] took 6.9% and 2 seats and [[National Renovator Party]] (PNR) polled just 0.5%, with no seats.

2019 saw the emergence of a new Eurosceptic political party, [[Chega (political party)|Chega]], who gained a seat in [[2019 Portuguese legislative election|that year's legislative election]]. The party did not capture any seats in the 2019 European Parliament elections, but saw its leader [[André Ventura]] finish third in the [[2021 Portuguese presidential election|2021 presidential election]], securing 11.9% of those voting.

In the [[2022 Portuguese legislative election|2022 Portuguese snap election]], Chega got 7.2% of the vote and 12 out of the 230 seats in the [[Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)|Assembly of the Republic]].

===Romania===
{{See also|Romanian withdrawal from the European Union}}
Several parties espousing Eurosceptic views exist on the right, such as the [[New Republic (Romania)|New Republic]], the [[Greater Romania Party]] and [[Noua Dreaptă]], but as of June 2020 none of these parties are represented in European Parliament. Euroscepticism is relatively unpopular in Romania, a 2015 survey found 65% of Romanians had a positive view of the country's EU membership.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.stiripesurse.ro/sondaj-euroscepticismul-nu-prinde-la-romani_955221.html | title=SONDAJ – Euroscepticismul nu prinde la români | date=8 May 2015 | access-date=5 August 2016}}</ref>

The Eurosceptic parties remained unrepresented in the [[2019 European Parliament election in Romania|2019 European Parliament election]].

The soft Eurosceptic [[Alliance for the Union of Romanians]], which was founded in September 2019, entered the Romanian parliament in 2020.

===Slovakia===
Parties with Eurosceptic views are the [[Slovak National Party]], [[Republic (Slovakia)|Republic]], [[We Are Family (Slovakia)|We Are Family]], [[People's Party Our Slovakia]]. Prominent Slovak Eurosceptic politicians include [[Andrej Danko]], [[Milan Uhrík]], [[Boris Kollár]], [[Marian Kotleba]].

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia|2019 European Parliament election]], [[People's Party Our Slovakia]] came 3rd securing 12.1% and winning their first 2 seats in the European Parliament, whereas the [[Slovak National Party]] and [[We Are Family (Slovakia)|We Are Family]] did not win any seats.

===Slovenia===
Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are [[Slovenian National Party]] and [[The Left (Slovenia)|The Left]]. Neither won seats in the [[2019 European Parliament election in Slovenia]].

===Spain===
[[File:Santiago Abascal 2015 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Santiago Abascal]], leader of [[Vox (political party)|Vox]] ]]
The process of Europeanization changed during the years in [[Spain]]. In 1986 Spain entered in the [[European Community]]. Since then, Spain has been one of the most Europeanist countries. Therefore, when Spain became part of the European Community, the country had a strong [[Pro-Europeanism|pro-Europeanist]] feeling, according to [[Eurobarometer]], as it reflected a 60% of the population.<ref name="eurobarometer26">{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/STANDARD/yearFrom/1974/surveyKy/2142|title=Standard Eurobarometer 26|date=November 1986|publisher=[[European Commission]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|date=6 February 2019|title=El legado de la crisis en el europeísmo en España|url=https://www.eldiario.es/piedrasdepapel/legado-crisis-europeismo-Espana_6_864823514.html|journal=El Diario|issue=6 February 2019}}</ref> In Spain different reasons explain its entrance to the European Community. On the one hand, democracy has just been established in Spain after [[Francisco Franco]] dictatorship. On the other hand, the main objectives of Spain were to achieve [[economic development]], and also a social modernization.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mitchell|first=Kristine|date=2014|title=Does European Identification Increase Support for Further Economic Integration?|journal=Journal of European Integration|volume=36|issue=6|pages=602–618|doi=10.1080/07036337.2014.916286|s2cid=154597995}}</ref> Spain was one of the few countries to vote Yes for the European Constitution in a referendum in February 2005, though by a lower margin in [[Catalonia]] and the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.es/constitucion_2004/resultados_electorales/default.html|title=Constitución Europea – Resultados del Referéndum 2005|trans-title=European Constitution – Referendum Results 2005|language=es|publisher=European Parliament|year=2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050226155240/http://www.europarl.es/constitucion_2004/resultados_electorales/default.html |archive-date=26 February 2005}}</ref>

In 2008, after the [[Spanish financial crisis|financial crisis]] reached Spain, the percentage of pro European persons started to fall. Thus, during the five years of the economic crisis, the Eurobarometer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/archives/eb/eb68/eb68_en.htm|title=Standard Eurobarometer 68|date=January 2008|work=[[European Commission]]}}</ref> shows how the trust in the EU increasingly fell in Spain, and the confidence of the Spanish citizens in the European Union decreased for more than 50 points. Spain became one of the most Eurosceptic countries among all European Union Members, as it happened in pretty much European countries, where nationalist and eurosceptic characterised parties became stronger.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rodon|first=Toni|title=Podemos and Ciudadanos Shake up the Spanish party System: The 2015 Local and Regional elections.|journal=[[South European Society & Politics]]|volume=21|issue=3|pages=339–358|doi=10.1080/13608746.2016.1151127|year=2016|s2cid=156799574}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bosch|first=Agusti|title=How does economic crisis impel emerging parties on the road to elections? The case of the Spanish Podemos and Ciudadanos.|journal=[[Party Politics]]|volume=25|issue=2|pages=257–268|doi=10.1177/1354068817710223|year=2019|s2cid=149417027}}</ref>

The historical two-parties system, composed by the conservative [[People's Party (Spain)|Partido Popular]] and the social-democratic [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|Partido Socialista Obrero Español]], collapsed. In the 2000s, the liberal [[Ciudadanos]] and leftist party [[Podemos (Spanish political party)|Podemos]] became part of the political context, gaining electoral consensus, followed years later by [[Ultranationalism|ultranationalist]] party [[Vox (political party)|Vox]]. The new parties were the effect of the disaffection of most Spaniards towards politics and politicians, that increased for several reasons: firstly, [[Corruption in Spain|corruption]] at all political levels, reaching the [[Spanish royal family|Royal Family]] too; secondly, recession intensified distrust of the population towards national government; thirdly, a phase of renovation of the [[Autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous regions]] which extended the distance between the National government and the Regional ones.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Le quattro crisi della Spagna|last=Bosco|first=Anna|publisher=Il Mulino|year=2018|isbn=978-8815273925|location=Bologna}}</ref>

[[Candidatura d'Unitat Popular]], a left-wing to far-left political party with about 1,300 members advocates independence for [[Catalonia]] outside of the European Union. Up to 2014 European elections, there were no Spanish parties present in the Eurosceptic groups at the European Parliament. In the [[2015 Spanish general election]], [[Podemos (Spanish political party)|Podemos]] became the first left-wing Eurosceptic political party to win seats in the [[Congress of Deputies]], obtaining 69 seats, and in the [[April 2019 Spanish general election|2019 Spanish general election]], [[Vox (political party)|Vox]] became the first far-right Eurosceptic political party to win seats in the [[Congress of Deputies]], obtaining 24 seats.

===Sweden===
The [[Left Party of Sweden]] is against accession to the eurozone and previously wanted Sweden to leave the European Union until 2019.{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=183}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=TT|date=17 February 2019|title=V ska inte driva EU-utträde i valet|language=sv|trans-title=V will not push for EU exit in election|work=SVT Nyheter|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/v-ska-inte-driva-eu-uttrade-i-valet|access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> The new party program, adapted in 2024, is highly EU-critical but states that an EU-withdrawal is only a "last option".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dn.se/sverige/vansterpartiet-slapper-kravet-pa-att-lamna-eu/ |title=Vänsterpartiet släpper kravet på att lämna EU |date=11 May 2024 }}</ref> Their youth organization [[Young Left (Sweden)|Young Left]] is still campaigning for Sweden to leave the EU.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ungvanster.se/internationell-solidaritet-inte-overstatlighet/ |title=Internationell solidaritet - inte överstatlighet |date=7 May 2024 }}</ref>

The nationalist and [[right-wing populist]] party [[Sweden Democrats]] (SD) support closer political, economic and military cooperation with neighboring Nordic and certain Northern European countries, but strongly oppose further EU integration and further transfers of Swedish sovereignty to the EU as a whole. The party is also against Swedish accession to the eurozone, the creation of a combined EU military budget and want to renegotiate Swedish membership of the [[Schengen Agreement]]. The SD also want a constitutional amendment to require that all EU treaties must be voted on by the Swedish public first and that if the EU cannot be reformed and assumes more power at the expense of national sovereignty Sweden must exit the bloc.<ref>[https://sd.se/our-politics/eu/ Vår politik A till Ö | Sverigedemokraterna] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009053009/https://sd.se/our-politics/eu/ |date=9 October 2018 }}. Sverigedemokraterna.se (9 October 2018).</ref>

The [[June List]], a Eurosceptic list consisting of members from both the political right and left won three seats in the 2004 Elections to the European Parliament and sat in the EU-critical [[Independence/Democracy|IND/DEM group]] in the European Parliament. The movement {{interlanguage link|Folkrörelsen Nej till EU|sv}} favours a withdrawal from the EU.

Around 75% of the [[Riksdag]] members represent parties that officially supports the Sweden membership.

In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Sweden|European Parliament election, 2014]], the [[Sweden Democrats]] gained 2 seats with 9.7% of the vote, up 6.4%, and the [[Left Party (Sweden)|Left Party]] took one seat with 6.3% of the vote.

In the [[2019 European Parliament election in Sweden|European Parliament election, 2019]], the [[Sweden Democrats]] increased from 2 to 3 seats with 15.3% of the vote, up from 9.7%, and the [[Left Party (Sweden)|Left Party]] retained its one seat with 6.8% of the vote.

In winter 2019–2020, in connection with the request from "poor" member countries of much higher membership fees for "rich" member countries, for the reason of keeping support levels so "poor" countries would not suffer from [[Brexit]], where a "rich" country left the union in part due to high membership fees, a media and social media debate for a "Swexit" increased.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/debatt/kasta-in-eu-handduken-och-bilda-ny-frihandelsunion/|title=Debatt: Kasta in EU-handduken och bilda ny frihandelsunion|website=www.expressen.se|date=21 July 2020 }}</ref> This was still rejected by parties representing a majority of the parliament, with the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] quickly taking over the debate.

==In other European countries==

===Armenia===
[[Prosperous Armenia]] represents the main Eurosceptic party in [[Armenia]]. Following the [[2018 Armenian parliamentary election]], the party gained 26 seats in the [[National Assembly of Armenia|National Assembly]], becoming the official opposition. Following the [[2021 Armenian parliamentary election]], the party lost all political representation and currently acts as an extra-parliamentary force. The party was a member of the [[Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Ուղիղ հեռարձակում |url=https://www.azatutyun.am/a/28382654.html |title=Tsarukian Endorsed By Euroskeptic EU Politicians |newspaper=«Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» Ռադիոկայան |language=hy|publisher=Azatutyun.am |date=21 March 2017 |access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref>

===Bosnia and Herzegovina===
Despite an uncritical attitude towards the EU informed by a strong Europeanizing ideology as the consequence of a lack of coherent policy agendas from local political actors,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hasanović|first1=Jasmin|last2=Kapidžić|first2=Damir|chapter=European But Not EU: Inside and Outside Perceptions of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Path to European Integration|editor=Giovanni Finizio|year=2023|publisher=T.wai - Torino World Affairs Institute|isbn=978-88-940803-2-2|title=The EU Seen from the Outside. Perspectives from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas |url=https://www.academia.edu/125692496/EUROPEAN_BUT_NOT_EU_Inside_and_Outside_Perceptions_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina_on_the_Path_to_European_Integration}}</ref> Euroscepticism exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina. An example is the [[Alliance of Independent Social Democrats]] is a Bosnian Serb political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 1996, it is the governing party in Bosnia and Herzegovina's entity called [[Republika Srpska]], with its leader being [[Milorad Dodik]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Passarelli|first=Gianluca|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YsFqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|title=The Presidentialisation of Political Parties in the Western Balkans|year=2018|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3319973524|language=en}}</ref>

===Georgia===
[[Georgian March]] is the main Eurosceptic party in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. The party supports a slight distancing of Georgia from the West, as well as rejecting the country's entrance into [[NATO]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://jam-news.net/the-georgian-march-against-migrants-and-nato/|title=The Georgian March against migrants and NATO|date=2 May 2018|work=JAMnews|access-date=6 December 2019|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/opposition-xenophobic-march-earns-georgian-activist-threats-support/28629125.html|title=Opposition To Xenophobic March Earns Georgian Activist Threats, Show Of Support|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=20 July 2017 |language=en|access-date=6 December 2019|last1=Crosby |first1=Alan }}</ref>

In March 2022, Georgia submitted a formal application for membership of the EU.<ref name="FT220303">{{cite news |title=Georgia and Moldova apply to join EU | first1=Henry |last1=Foy |first2=Sam |last2=Fleming |work=Financial Times |location=London |date=3 March 2022 |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4bf864d8-95ae-4d95-82b3-9b2c9eee845d |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/4bf864d8-95ae-4d95-82b3-9b2c9eee845d |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Iceland===
The three main Eurosceptic parties in Iceland are the [[Independence Party (Iceland)|Independence Party]], [[Left-Green Movement]] and the [[Progressive Party (Iceland)|Progressive Party]]. The Independence Party and the Progressive Party won the [[2013 Icelandic parliamentary election|parliamentary election]] in April 2013 and they have halted the current negotiations with the European Union regarding Icelandic membership and tabled a parliamentary resolution on 21 February 2014 to withdraw the application completely.<ref name="ruvli">{{cite news|title=Stjórnarsáttmáli kynntur á Laugarvatni|url=http://ruv.is/frett/stjornarsattmali-kynntur-a-laugarvatni|access-date=22 May 2013|date=22 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111184157/http://ruv.is/frett/stjornarsattmali-kynntur-a-laugarvatni |archive-date=11 November 2013}}</ref><ref name="icelandover">{{cite news |url=http://euobserver.com/political/120501 |title=Iceland's EU bid is over, commission told |last=Fox |first=Benjamin |agency=Reuters |date=16 June 2013 |access-date=16 June 2013}}</ref>

In 2017, Iceland's [[2016 Icelandic parliamentary election|newly elected]] government announced that it would hold a vote in parliament on whether to hold a referendum on resuming EU membership negotiations.<ref name=newgov>{{cite news|last=Lawless|first=Jill|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/26726ee0e2a34767b74c082801e8b3e0/iceland-gets-new-government-could-restart-eu-entry-talks|title=Iceland gets new govt, could restart talks on entering EU|date=7 March 2017|agency=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=19 March 2017|archive-date=12 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112184259/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/26726ee0e2a34767b74c082801e8b3e0/iceland-gets-new-government-could-restart-eu-entry-talks|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=newgov2>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iceland-government-idUSKBN14U1TC?il=0|title=New Icelandic center-right coalition to give parliament vote on EU referendum|date=11 January 2017|access-date=28 March 2017|work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> In November 2017 that government was replaced by a coalition of the Independence Party, the Left Green Movement and the Progressive Party; all of whom oppose membership. Only 11 out of 63 MPs are in favour of EU membership.<ref>[https://euobserver.com/opinion/140228 Iceland: further from EU membership than ever], euobserver 11 December 2017</ref>

===Moldova===
The main Eurosceptic parties in Moldova are the left-wing [[Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova]], which officially declared its main purpose to be the integration of Moldova in the [[Eurasian Economic Union]], [[Victory (political bloc)|Victory]], and the [[Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova]]. As of March 2022 all the parties are represented in [[Moldovan Parliament]], with 35 MPs out of a total of 101 MPs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parties-and-elections.eu/moldova.html|title=Parties and Elections in Europe|website=www.parties-and-elections.eu}}</ref>

In March 2022, Moldova submitted a formal application for membership of the EU.<ref name="FT220303" />

===Montenegro===
The right-wing [[Democratic Front (Montenegro)|Democratic Front]] alliance are the main moderate eurosceptic subject in the [[Parliament of Montenegro]], although its initially declaratively supported country's bid for accession to the [[European Union]], all other parliamentary subjects officially advocates Montenegrin access to EU. The only parties that advocates Montenegro's rejecting the European integration are the extra-parliamentary right-wing populist to far-right parties, such as [[True Montenegro]], [[Party of Serb Radicals]], [[Democratic Party of Unity]] and the [[Serb List (2012)|Serb List]], all four are known for their close cooperation with the parliamentary Democratic Front.

===Norway===
{{See also|Norway–European Union relations}}
Norway has rejected EU membership in two referendums, [[1972 Norwegian European Communities membership referendum|1972]] and [[1994 Norwegian European Union membership referendum|1994]]. The [[Centre Party (Norway)|Centre Party]], [[Christian Democratic Party (Norway)|Christian Democratic Party]], [[Socialist Left Party (Norway)|Socialist Left Party]] and [[Liberal Party (Norway)|Liberal Party]] were against EU membership in both referendums. The Liberal Party was particularly divided on the issue, and a large pro-EEC minority split off from the party before the 1972 referendum. In 2020, the Liberal Party officially reversed its position and since then, supports Norwegian EU membership.<ref>[https://www.venstre.no/artikkel/2020/09/27/venstre-sier-ja-til-eu/ Venstre sier ja til EU] (27 September 2020).</ref>

Among the established political parties of Norway, the Centre Party, Socialist Left Party, and [[Red Party (Norway)|Red Party]] are also against Norway's current membership of the [[European Economic Area]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/ud/dok/nou-er/2012/nou-2012-2/13/2/2.html?id=669542|title=NOU 2012: 2: Utenfor og innenfor|trans-title=NOU 2012: 2: From outside and within|language=no|work=Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs|year=2010|access-date=28 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020163952/http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/ud/dok/nou-er/2012/nou-2012-2/13/2/2.html?id=669542|archive-date=20 October 2013}}</ref> In addition, the libertarian [[Capitalist Party]] and Christian-conservative [[The Christians (Norway)|The Christians]], both of whom have never held a seat in the Norwegian parliament, are also against Norway's membership in the EEA.

===Russia===
{{See also|Russia–European Union relations}}
[[File:Vladimir Putin 14 February 2008-7.jpg|thumb|upright|[[President of Russia|Russian President]] [[Vladimir Putin]] is an outspoken Eurosceptic who has promoted an alternative Economic Union with [[Armenia]], [[Belarus]], [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]] – the [[Eurasian Economic Union]].]]

Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are the ruling [[United Russia]], and opposition parties the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] and [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia]].

Following the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexation of Crimea]], the European Union issued sanctions on the Russian Federation in response to what it regards as an "illegal" annexation and "deliberate destabilisation" of a neighbouring sovereign country.<ref>[http://europa.eu/newsroom/highlights/special-coverage/eu_sanctions/index_en.htm "EU sanctions against Russia over Ukraine crisis"]; via the official website of the European Union.</ref> In response to this, [[Alexey Borodavkin]] – Russia's permanent representative with the UN – said "The EU is committing a direct violation of human rights by its actions against Russia. The unilateral sanctions introduced against us are not only illegitimate according to international law, they also undermine Russian citizens' freedom of travel, freedom of development, freedom of work and others".{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}} In the same year, Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] said: "What are the so-called European values? Maintaining the coup, the armed seizure of power and the suppression of dissent with the help of the armed forces?"<ref>"[https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2014/09/01/ukraine-dismisses-russia-call-for-cease-fire/lZUwOWvk1fTMG1nXpH7TXL/story.html Ukraine dismisses Russia's call for cease-fire]". ''[[Boston Globe]]''. 1 September 2014.</ref>

A February 2014 poll conducted by the [[Levada Center]], Russia's largest independent polling organization, found that nearly 80% of Russian respondents had a "good" impression of the EU. This changed dramatically in 2014 with the Russian annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, resulting in 70% taking a hostile view of the EU compared to 20% viewing it positively.<ref>[http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_what_russia_thinks_of_europe5084 What Russia thinks of Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203153648/https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_what_russia_thinks_of_europe5084 |date=3 December 2018 }} 2 February 2016</ref>

A Levada poll released in August 2018 found that 68% of Russians polled believe that Russia needs to dramatically improve relations with Western countries. 42% of Russian respondents said they had a positive view of the EU, up from 28% in May 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=Favorable Attitudes Toward U.S., EU Rising In Russia, Poll Finds |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/favorable-attitudes-toward-u-s-eu-on-the-rise-in-russia-levada-poll-finds/29407171.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=2 August 2018}}</ref>

===San Marino===
A [[2013 Sammarinese referendum|referendum]] was held in the [[landlocked]] [[microstate]] on 20 October 2013 in which the citizens were asked whether the country should submit an application to join the [[European Union]]. The proposal was rejected because of a low turnout, even though 50.3% of voters approved it. The "Yes" campaign was supported by the main left-wing parties ([[Socialist Party (San Marino)|Socialist Party]], [[United Left (San Marino)|United Left]]) and the [[Union for the Republic (San Marino)|Union for the Republic]] whereas the [[Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party]] suggested voting with a [[blank ballot]], the [[Popular Alliance (San Marino)|Popular Alliance]] declared itself neutral, and [[We Sammarinese]] and the RETE movement supported the "No" campaign. The [[Citizens' Rights Directive]], which defines the [[right of movement|right of free movement]] for the [[European citizens]], may have been an important reason for those voting no.<ref>{{cite news|last=Keating|first=Dave|date=23 October 2013|title=San Marino rejects EU accession|url=http://www.politico.eu/article/san-marino-rejects-eu-accession/|work=[[Politico Europe|Politico]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marceddu|first=David|date=19 October 2013|title=San Marino al voto per l'ingresso in Ue.|url=http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2013/10/19/san-marino-al-voto-per-lingresso-in-europa-lega-in-trasferta-per-promuovere-no/743233/|work=[[Il Fatto Quotidiano]]|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=21 October 2013|title=San Marino dice no all'Europa: il referendum non raggiunge il quorum|url=http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2013/10/21/san-marino-dice-no-alleuropa-referendum-non-raggiunge-quorum/750525/|work=[[Il Fatto Quotidiano]]|language=it}}</ref>

===Serbia===
[[File:Miloš Jovanović 2023 (crop).jpg|thumb|150px|Serbian politician [[Miloš Jovanović]], a prominent eurosceptic]]
In Serbia, political parties with eurosceptic views tend to be right-orientated. The most notable examples are the [[Ultranationalism|ultranationalist]] [[Serbian Radical Party]] (SRS) which since its inception has opposed entering the European Union<ref>{{cite web| title = The changing nature of Serbian political parties' attitudes towards Serbian EU membership | url = https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=epern-working-paper-24.pdf&site=266| website = Sussex European Institute| date = August 2011| access-date = 18 April 2016}}</ref> and the [[Right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] [[Dveri]].<ref name="New Nationalism">{{cite web|author=Ljubomir Delevic|title=Introduction to nationalism in Serbia|date=6 November 2013|access-date=18 March 2019|url=http://your-art.sk/?p=1796|website=your-art.sk}}</ref> Political parties such as the [[Democratic Party of Serbia]] (DSS) had [[Atlanticism|pro-Western]] views and was initially supportive of the accession into the European Union but under the late 2000s leadership of [[Vojislav Koštunica]] they turned eurosceptic,<ref name="IPS">{{cite journal|date=2012|first=Slobodan|last=Antonić|volume=5|issue=1|publisher=[[Institute of Political Studies in Belgrade]]|journal=Serbian Political Thought|title=Eurosceptism in Serbia|page=69|doi=10.22182/spt.512012.4|url=http://www.ips.ac.rs/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Slobodan-Antonic_SPT_1_2012.pdf}}</ref> and the [[Enough is Enough (party)|Enough is Enough]] (DJB) political party, initially a liberal centrist party that also supported the accession turned towards the right-wing eurosceptic position shortly after 2018.<ref name="suvfrffk">{{Cite web|url=https://rs.n1info.com/vesti/a611273-djb-suverenizam-podrazumeva-dostojanstvenu-i-slobodnu-drzavu/|title=DJB: Suverenizam podrazumeva dostojanstvenu i slobodnu državu|date=18 June 2020|publisher=N1|website=rs.n1info.com|language=Serbian}}</ref>

Historically, the [[Socialist Party of Serbia]] (SPS) and the [[Yugoslav Left]] (JUL) were the only two left-leaning political parties that imposed eurosceptic and anti-Western views. The ruling coalition in Serbia, [[Serbia Must Not Stop]], which is predominantly pro-European orientated is also composed of two minor eurosceptic parties, the right-wing [[Serbian People's Party (2014)|Serbian People's Party]]<ref name="responses">{{cite book|title=Party Responses to the EU in the Western Balkans|page=134|year=2017|publisher=Springer|first=Marko|last=Stojić}}</ref> that advocates closer ties to Russia,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kurir.rs/vesti/politika/3495357/srpska-narodna-partija-vodi-se-agresivna-kampanja-protiv-rusije-i-putina|title=Srpska Narodna Narodna Partija: Vodi se agresivna kampanja protiv Rusije i Putina|date=10 July 2020|publisher=Kurir|language=Serbian|website=kurir.rs}}</ref> and the left-leaning [[Movement of Socialists]] which was formed as the eurosceptic split from SPS in the 2000s.

Other minor political parties in Serbia that have eurosceptic views are [[Healthy Serbia]], [[People's Freedom Movement (Serbia)|People's Freedom Movement]], [[Russian Party (Serbia)|Russian Party]], Love, Faith, Hope, [[Serbian Party Oathkeepers]], [[Serbian Right]], [[Leviathan Movement]], [[We – Voice from the People]], and [[We – Power of the People]].

===Switzerland===
{{See also|Switzerland–European Union relations}}

[[Switzerland]] has long been known for [[Swiss neutrality|its neutrality]] in international politics. Swiss voters rejected [[European Economic Area|EEA]] membership [[1992 Swiss referendums|in 1992]], and EU membership [[2001 Swiss referendums|in 2001]]. Despite the passing of several referendums calling for closer relations between [[Switzerland and the European Union]] such as the adoption of bilateral treaties and the joining of the [[Schengen Area]], a second referendum of the joining of the EEA or the EU is not expected,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/20-years-on_switzerland-poised-to-keep-eu-at-arm-s-length/34083578|title=Switzerland poised to keep EU at arm's length |date=2 December 2012|access-date=10 April 2014|last=Miserez|first=Marc-Andre|publisher=[[swissinfo]]}}</ref> and the general public remains opposed to joining.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/slow-and-cautious_swiss-still-prefer-bilateral-accords-with-eu/34078538|title=Swiss still prefer bilateral accords with EU |last=Keiser |first=Andreas |date=30 November 2012 |access-date=10 April 2014 |website=Swissinfo}}</ref>

In February 2014, the Swiss voters narrowly approved a [[Federal popular initiative "Against mass immigration"|referendum limiting the freedom of movement]] of EU citizens to Switzerland.

Eurosceptic political parties include the [[Swiss People's Party]], which is the largest [[List of political parties in Switzerland|political party in Switzerland]], with 29.4% of the popular vote as of the [[2015 Swiss federal election|2015 federal election]]. Smaller Eurosceptic parties include, but are not limited to, the [[Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland|Federal Democratic Union]], the [[Ticino League]], and the [[Geneva Citizens' Movement]], all of which are considered right-wing parties.

In addition, the [[Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland]] is a political organisation in Switzerland that is strongly opposed to Swiss membership of or further integration otherwise with the European Union.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Kuenzi | first1=Renat | title='We're Not the Only EU Sceptics' | url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/conservative-pressure-group_-we-re-not-the-only-eu-sceptics-/38582264 | date=15 May 2014 | website=[[Swissinfo]] | access-date=4 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Über Uns | url=http://auns.ch/ueber-uns/ | publisher=Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland official website | access-date=4 April 2016 | archive-date=13 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413063201/http://auns.ch/ueber-uns/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Regionally, the German-speaking majority as well as the Italian-speaking areas are the most Eurosceptic, while [[Romandy|French-speaking Switzerland]] tends to be more pro-European integration. In the 2001 referendum, the majority of French-speakers voted against EU membership.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} According to a 2016 survey conducted by M.I.S Trend and published in ''[[L'Hebdo]]'', 69 percent of the Swiss population supports systematic border controls, and 53 percent want restrictions on the EU accord of the free movements of peoples and 14 percent want it completely abolished.<ref name="tighten">{{cite web | title=Survey: Tighten Borders but Keep EU Accords, Say Swiss | url=http://www.thelocal.ch/20160519/survey-tighten-borders-but-keep-eu-accords-say-swiss | date=19 May 2016 | publisher=thelocal.ch | access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref> 54% of the Swiss population said that if necessary, they would ultimately keep the freedom of movement of people's accord.<ref name="tighten"/>

===Turkey===
The two main Eurosceptic parties are the far-right ultranationalist, [[Nationalist Movement Party]] (MHP), which secured 11.1% of votes, and 49 seats in the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Parliament]] at the [[2018 Turkish parliamentary election|last election]], and the [[Felicity Party]] (Saadet Partisi), a far-right [[Sunni Islam]]ist party, which has no seats in the Parliament, as it only secured 0.7% of the votes in the last election, far below the 10% threshold necessary to be represented in the Parliament.

Many left-wing nationalist and far-left parties hold no seats at parliament but they control many activist and student movements in Turkey. The [[Patriotic Party (Turkey)|Patriotic Party]] (formerly called Workers' Party) consider the European Union as a front-runner of global imperialism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ulusalkanal.com.tr/gundem/vatan-partisi-haric-hepsi-nato-ve-ab-yanlisi-iste-partilerin-dis-politikalari-h59483.html |title=Vatan Partisi hariç hepsi NATO ve AB yanlısı! İşte partilerin dış politikaları |trans-title=All parties except Homeland Party are pro-NATO and the EU! Here are the foreign policy of the party |language=tr |publisher=Ulusalkanal.com.tr |date=6 May 2015 |access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tkp.org.tr/soru/tkp-natoya-abdye-ve-avrupa-birligine-neden-karsi |title=TKP, NATO'ya, ABD'ye ve Avrupa Birliği'ne neden karşı? |trans-title=CAP, NATO, the United States and the European Union against reason? |language=tr |publisher=Tkp.org.tr |date=13 August 2013 |access-date=29 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518112439/http://www.tkp.org.tr/soru/tkp-natoya-abdye-ve-avrupa-birligine-neden-karsi |archive-date=18 May 2015 }}</ref>

Founded on 26 August 2021 under the leadership of [[Ümit Özdağ]], [[Victory Party (Turkey)]] is a [[Turkish nationalist]] and [[anti-immigrant]] political party. It is represented by two deputies in the [[Turkish Grand National Assembly]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ümit Özdağ received the founding document of the Victory Party|date=26 August 2021 |url=https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2021/gundem/umit-ozdag-zafer-partisinin-kurulus-belgesini-teslim-aldi-6615195/}}</ref>  "The [[European Union]] does not want to negotiate with Turkey. We will not humiliate Turkey anymore." Özdağ said.

===Ukraine===
{{See also|Ukraine–European Union relations}}
Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are [[Opposition Platform – For Life]], [[Opposition Bloc (2019)|Opposition Bloc]], [[Party of Shariy]] and [[Right Sector]].

The far-right Ukrainian group [[Right Sector]] opposes joining the European Union. It regards the EU as an "oppressor" of European nations.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25826238 |title=Profile: Ukraine's 'Right Sector' movement |date=21 January 2014 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

In the 2019 parliamentary election the [[Opposition Platform – For Life]] won 37 seats on the nationwide party list and 6 constituency seats.<ref>{{Cite web|title=CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections|url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-elections/2748306-cec-counts-100-percent-of-vote-in-ukraines-parliamentary-elections.html|access-date=3 March 2021|website=www.ukrinform.net|date=26 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

The leader of the [[Party of Shariy]] Anatoly Shariy is one of the closest associates of [[Viktor Medvedchuk]], whom Ukraine's special services suspect of financing terrorism.<ref>{{Cite news|date=26 February 2021|title=Why Ukraine sanctioned Putin's ally Medvedchuk – Atlantic Council|language=en-US|work=Atlantic Council|url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/why-ukraine-sanctioned-putins-ally-medvedchuk/|access-date=3 March 2021}}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
{{Main|Brexit|Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:Nigel_Farage_(45718080574)_(cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Nigel Farage]], former Leader of [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] and current leader of [[Reform UK]] and former co-leader of the [[Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy]] group in the European Parliament. Farage is one of the most prominent Eurosceptic figures in the UK.]]

The European Union, and Britain's place in relation to it, is one of the primary issues today dividing opinion among the British public, political parties, media and civil society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/the-case-for-brexit-lessons-from-1960s-and-1970s|title=The case for Brexit: lessons from the 1960s and 1970s|last=Williamson|first=Adrian|date=5 May 2015|website=History & Policy|access-date=13 July 2016}}</ref>

Euroscepticism has been an element in British politics ever since the inception of the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC), the predecessor to the EU, and its salience as an issue has fluctuated widely over the years. The [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|European Communities membership referendum]] of 1975 took place in the context of Conservative and Liberal parties which were generally in favour of membership (in the 1971 House of Commons vote on whether the UK should join the European Economic Community, only 39 of the then 330 Conservative MPs had been opposed to membership<ref name=georgiou>{{cite journal |last1=Georgiou |first1=Christakis |date=April 2017 |title=British Capitalism and European Unification, from Ottawa to the Brexit Referendum |journal=[[Historical Materialism (journal)|Historical Materialism]] |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=90–129 |doi=10.1163/1569206X-12341511 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Anthony |author-link1=Anthony Lewis |date=29 October 1971 |title=Commons Votes, 356 to 242, for Britain's Membership in the European Market|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/29/archives/commons-votes-356-to-244-for-britains-membership-in-the-european.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=1 |access-date=14 September 2019}}</ref>), and a Labour party which was sharply divided.  After the referendum, which gave a strong assent to continued membership, Euroscepticism was a strand of opinion characteristic of the Labour party; at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]], for example, Labour campaigned on a promise to withdraw from the EEC.<ref>{{cite news|title=Michael Foot: What did the 'longest suicide note' say?|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8550425.stm}}</ref>  This opposition to membership faded quickly after the election of [[Neil Kinnock]] as leader of the party, and Euroscepticism gradually came to be less popular on the left of politics than on the right - though left-wing opposition to membership continues to this day.  Current and recent supporters on the left of British politics include [[Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead|Frank Field]], [[Graham Stringer]], [[Ian Austin]], [[John Mann, Baron Mann|John Mann]], [[Tom Harris (British politician)|Tom Harris]], [[Gisela Stuart]], [[Austin Mitchell]], [[Kate Hoey]] and [[George Galloway]].<ref name="Mance">{{cite news|last=Mance|first=Henry|date=19 February 2016|title=George Galloway joins anti-EU rally as Brussels talks reach climax|work=[[Financial Times]]|location=London, UK|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bcf6df22-d754-11e5-8887-98e7feb46f27.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bcf6df22-d754-11e5-8887-98e7feb46f27.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|access-date=19 February 2016}}</ref>

When [[Margaret Thatcher]] came into power as the Prime Minister in 1979, she was as strongly in favour of membership as most Conservative MPs, having campaigned for "yes" in the 1975 referendum.  By the time she left office, however, she had developed what at the time was a strongly Eurosceptic stance; she has been called the "spiritual mother"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alexandre-Collier |first1=Agnès |title=Euroscepticism under Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron : From Theory to Practice |journal=Observatoire de la société britannique |date=2015 |issue=17 |pages=115–133 |doi=10.4000/osb.1778 |s2cid=55603749 |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01287011/file/Article%20OSB%20Thatcher%20-%20Cameron%20AAC%20Vdef.pdf }}</ref> of Euroscepticism.  She never argued for secession while Prime Minister, envisioning continued membership of a less integrationist EEC, and became one of the most significant Eurosceptic voices in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, influencing the Conservatives’ view on the EU. In 2009 the Conservative Party actively campaigned against the [[Treaty of Lisbon|Lisbon Treaty]], which it believed would give away too much sovereignty to Brussels. [[Shadow Cabinet|Shadow]] Foreign Secretary [[William Hague]] stated that, should the treaty be in force by the time of an incoming Conservative government, he would "not let matters rest there".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7470078.stm |work=BBC News |title=Cameron's Britain: Euro-doubts |date=26 June 2008 |access-date=1 April 2010 |first=Mark |last=Mardell |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212231633/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7470078.stm |archive-date=12 February 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The right-wing [[UK Independence Party]] (UKIP) was set up for the specific purpose of advocating for the UK unilaterally [[secession|seceding]] the European Union ([[Brexit]]) from its foundation in 1993.<ref>{{cite news|title=How UKIP became a British political force|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22396689|access-date=6 February 2017|work=BBC News|date=3 May 2013}}</ref>  This party initially had very little support from the UK population as a whole.  It was initially eclipsed by the [[Referendum Party]], which fought the 1997 general election on the single issue of a referendum to leave the EU.  The party's main success was found in elections to the European Parliament, where they experienced a continuous rise in their support from [[1999_European_Parliament_election_in_the_United_Kingdom|1999]], when they came fourth and won their first seats.  In [[2004_European_Parliament_election_in_the_United_Kingdom|2004]] they came third, becoming the first "small" party to overtake the Liberals in a national vote since Labour in the 1920s.  In [[2009_European_Parliament_election_in_the_United_Kingdom|2009]] UKIP came second, and then, [[2014_European_Parliament_election_in_the_United_Kingdom|in 2014]], they topped the poll, pushing the Conservatives into third for the first time in their history.  UKIP also had some strong support locally in solidly working class areas, with 163 councillors elected to local authorities and gaining overall control in 2015 of [[Thanet District Council elections|Thanet District Council]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Election 2015: UKIP controls Thanet council|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32672010|access-date=8 November 2024}}</ref>  

However, UKIP — like most small parties in the UK — found it almost impossible to break into Westminster politics, only ever achieving one elected MP, in 2015.<ref>{{cite news|title=UKIP gains first elected MP with Clacton win|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29549414}}</ref>  Accordingly, after the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|inconclusive general election result of 2010]], resulting in a [[hung Parliament]], the issue of EU membership remained low on the political priority agenda at Westminster — broadly speaking a non-issue. This changed with UKIP's victory in the [[2014 European Parliament election]], in the wake of which two Conservative MPs defected to UKIP.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29394697|title=Mark Reckless defects to UKIP from Tories}}</ref>  The party with the largest number of seats in the 2010 Parliament was [[Conservative Party (UK)|the Conservatives]], which was firstly deeply divided on the issue, being led by a pro-European leadership on the whole, but with a large number of very vociferous Eurosceptic [[backbenchers]], and secondly concerned at UKIP's possible electoral threat to the party at the following election.  The Conservative leader [[David Cameron]] promised a referendum on EU membership in the party's [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]] manifesto.

By 2015, support for the Liberal Democrats had shrunk considerably, a phenomenon widely attributed to a policy U-turn on [[Tuition fees in the United Kingdom|university tuition fees]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Ed Davey: Lib Dems are winning back trust after 2010 U-turn on pledge to scrap tuition fees|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/general-election-reform-uk-nigel-farage-ed-davey-lib-dems-bbc-one-interviews-panorama-b1167570.html}}</ref>  In the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|election]], the Lib Dem vote collapsed, leading to an outright Conservative victory, to the surprise of many, as national polling had consistently predicted another hung Parliament.  This majority meant that David Cameron's pledge now had to be fulfilled.  In an effort to reduce Euroscepticism, Cameron sought and gained from the EU a [[2015–2016 United Kingdom renegotiation of European Union membership|renegotiation of some of the terms of Britain's EU membership]], to a mixed response from the media and his party.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tory MPs attack David Cameron's EU reforms plan as 'pretty thin gruel'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/11985483/EU-referendum-David-Cameron-sets-out-his-demands-to-Europe-live.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=EU renegotiation: What David Cameron wanted – and what he really got|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-renegotiation-what-david-cameron-wanted-and-what-he-really-got-a6885761.html}}</ref>

For the 23 June 2016 [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|referendum on the EU membership]], whilst the Conservatives had no official political policy position either way, its leader Cameron was avowedly in favour of remaining in the EU — though with the renegotiation of the terms of membership little political mileage was gained — and the party remained profoundly split, as it had been for many years.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Conservative Party split over Brexit|url=http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2016/04/05/the-conservative-party-split-on-brexit/|access-date=6 February 2017|work=LSE BREXIT|date=5 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Goodenough|first1=Tom|title=Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?|url=http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/which-tory-mps-back-brexit-who-doesnt-and-who-is-still-on-the-fence/|access-date=6 February 2017|work=Coffee House|agency=The Spectator|date=16 February 2016|archive-date=22 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022111657/http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/which-tory-mps-back-brexit-who-doesnt-and-who-is-still-on-the-fence/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] policy officially supported remaining in the EU, although with long-standing Eurosceptic [[Jeremy Corbyn]] party leader, he and his [[Momentum (organisation)|Momentum]] supporters gave a lacklustre defence against secession.  Since first being elected in 1984 as a stalwart adherent of Eurosceptic [[Tony Benn]] on the left wing of the party, Corbin had personally advocated withdrawal throughout his terms as a Labour MP, so he suggested early on in the campaign that he would willingly consider withdrawal contrary to official party policy.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mason|first1=Rowena|title=Labour voters in the dark about party's stance on Brexit, research says|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/30/labour-voters-in-the-dark-about-partys-stance-on-brexit-research-says|access-date=6 February 2017|work=The Guardian|date=30 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Cooper|first1=Charlie|title=Corbyn is now genuinely against Brexit – but is it too little too late?|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-referendum-brexit-jeremy-corbyn-live-updates-polls-remain-leave-a7094081.html|access-date=6 February 2017|work=The Independent|date=21 June 2016}}</ref> The [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] were the most adamantly pro-EU of the main parties, and since the referendum, pro-Europeanism has been their main policy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Liberal Democrats regroup around pro-Europe message|url=https://www.ft.com/content/65fec126-e874-11e6-893c-082c54a7f539 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/65fec126-e874-11e6-893c-082c54a7f539 |archive-date=10 December 2022|work=Financial Times|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The referendum [[Results of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|resulted in]] an overall vote to leave the EU, as opposed to remaining an EU member, by 52% to 48%, on a turnout of 72%.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Withnall|first1=Adam|title=It's official: Britain has voted to Leave the EU|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-eu-referendum-final-result-leave-campaign-secures-official-lead-a7099296.html|work=The Independent|date=24 June 2016}}</ref> The vote was split between the [[Countries of the United Kingdom|constituent countries]] of the United Kingdom, with a majority in [[England]] and [[Wales]] voting to leave, and a majority in [[Scotland]] and [[Northern Ireland]], as well as an overwhelming 96% in [[Gibraltar]], a [[British Overseas Territory]], voting to remain.<ref name="ft2">{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/06a90f8c-39c0-11e6-a780-b48ed7b6126f,Authorised=false.html?siteedition=uk&_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F06a90f8c-39c0-11e6-a780-b48ed7b6126f.html%3Fsiteedition%3Duk&_i_referer=&classification=conditional_standard&iab=barrier-app|title=Scots' backing for Remain raises threat of union's demise|first=Mure|last=Dickie|date=24 June 2016|newspaper=Financial Times}}</ref> As a result of the referendum, the UK Government notified the EU of its intention to withdraw on 29 March 2017 by [[United Kingdom invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union|invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty]].

On 12 April 2019, a new Eurosceptic party, the [[Brexit Party]], was officially launched by the former [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] leader [[Nigel Farage]], to use the [[2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2019 European Parliament election]] to put pressure on a Conservative government perceived to be failing to pursue Brexit with adequate enthusiasm or success.<ref>{{cite news|title=Inside Theresa May’s Great British Failure|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-brexit-referendum/}}</ref>  In the event, although overall pro-EU parties score a similar share of the vote to Eurosceptic parties, the Brexit Party topped the national poll by a large margin, with 32% of the vote.  The Conservatives, on the other hand, suffered their lowest ever national vote share at 9%, with just 4 seats.  This historic electoral defeat – along with an inability to navigate an agreeable route between a "soft" or "hard" Brexit in Parliament – led to Theresa May announcing the day after the election that she would step down as the Conservatives' leader and Prime Minister on 7 June.<ref>{{cite web|last=Forgey |first=Quint |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-brexit-referendum/ |title=Inside Theresa May's Great British Failure |date=24 May 2019 |publisher=Politico.eu |access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref> After the elections, the Eurosceptic [[Blue Collar Conservativism|Blue Collar Conservative]] grouping of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MPs was formed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48335109|title=Tory MPs launch rival campaign groups|date=20 May 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=25 March 2020|language=en-GB}}</ref>

The Conservatives' resounding defeat led them to elect a new leader who might gain votes back from the Brexit Party, by pursuing a "harder" Brexit more determinedly than Theresa May had done.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48522075|title=Notes from the first Tory leadership hustings}}</ref>  Following the [[2019 Conservative Party leadership election|election of Boris Johnson as leader]] in July, the Conservatives' new Cabinet became strongly supportive of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.  Its platform was changed to unequivocally support EU withdrawal, and there was a systematic campaign in preparation for the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]] to enforce loyalty to this aim by deselecting all MPs and candidates from the party who refused to explicitly undertake to support it.  The Conservatives fought the election on the slogan "[[Get Brexit Done]]", a slogan which attracted strong criticism from almost all the other parties in Parliament.  The election resulted in the largest overall majority for the Conservatives since the 1980s, the highest percentage of the popular vote for any party since 1979, and significant losses for the opposition Labour and Liberal Democrats.<ref>{{cite news|title=‘Get Brexit Done.’ The 3 Words That Helped Boris Johnson Win Britain’s 2019 Election|url=https://time.com/5749478/get-brexit-done-slogan-uk-election/}}</ref>

A month later, on 23 January 2020, Parliament ratified a withdrawal agreement from the European Union, which was in turn ratified by the EU Parliament on 30 January. On 31 January, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union after 47 years. During a transition period until 31 December 2020, the UK still followed EU rules and continued free trade and free movement for people within the European Union.

== Counter-criticism ==
Ben Chu, writing for ''[[The Independent]]'', argued against the left-wing notion that the EU is a neoliberal organization, pointing to "high levels of social protection, state-owned rail companies, nationalised utilities and banks, various price controls and industrial interventions".<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 May 2018 |title=Opinion: The European Union is not a 'neoliberal conspiracy' – and it's disturbing that some in the Labour Party apparently believe this nonsense |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/european-union-neoliberal-conspiracy-labour-party-brexit-jeremy-corbyn-a8349316.html |access-date=30 June 2023 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>
Unlike other left-wing critiques of the European Union—which are more focused on failure to achieve a social Europe—Hans Kundnani's book ''[[Eurowhiteness]]'' takes aim at the goals of European integration itself, as Kundani argues that the European Union reproduces the same failings of [[nationalism]] on a larger scale.<ref name=czech>{{cite journal |title=Book Forum on Hans Kundnani's Eurowhiteness: Culture, Empire and Race in the European Project |journal=Czech Journal of International Relations |date=2024 |volume=3 |issue=59 |pages=129–168 |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1293296 |language=English |issn=2788-2985}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category|Euroscepticism}}
* [[Anti-Federalism]]
* [[Anti-globalization]]
* [[Balkanization]]
* [[Euromyth]]
* [[European debt crisis]]
* [[European Referendum Campaign]]
* [[Europeanism]]
* [[Institutions of the European Union]]
* [[Migration and asylum policy of the European Union]]
* [[Populism in Europe]]
* [[Radical right (Europe)|Radical right in Europe]]
* [[Subsidiarity (European Union)|Subsidiarity in the European Union]] (The rights and responsibilities of member states.)
* ''[[European Federation|United States of Europe]]''
* ''[[Fourth Reich]]''
* [[Withdrawal from the European Union|Withdrawal from the European Union under Article 50]]
* [[Withdrawal from the eurozone]]
* [[States' rights]] (US)

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=econ2015>{{cite news|title=Greece turns, Europe wobbles|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21640746-syrizas-victory-blow-european-austerity-it-may-also-be-blow-europe-greece-turns-and|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=19 July 2015}}</ref>
<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Trust in national government">{{Cite book|isbn=978-9279577819|doi=10.2775/89997|id= Catalogue No. NA-04-16-323-EN-N|title= Standard Eurobarometer 84 Autumn 2015 Report: Public opinion in the European Union, Language version EN |date=2016|publisher=[[European Union]]|url= http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/72826|access-date=26 October 2016|pages=73–75|author1=European Commission. Directorate General for Communication|author2=TNS Opinion & Social}}</ref>
<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Right direction">
{{cite book|isbn=978-9279577819|doi=10.2775/89997|id= Catalogue No. NA-04-16-323-EN-N|title= Standard Eurobarometer 84 Autumn 2015 Report: Public opinion in the European Union, Language version EN |date=2016|publisher=[[European Union]]|url= http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/72826|access-date=26 October 2016|pages=87–92|author1=European Commission. Directorate General for Communication|author2=TNS Opinion & Social}}</ref>
<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, Trust in EU">{{Cite book|isbn=978-9279577819|doi=10.2775/89997|id= Catalogue No. NA-04-16-323-EN-N|title= Standard Eurobarometer 84 Autumn 2015 Report: Public opinion in the European Union, Language version EN |date=2016|publisher=[[European Union]]|url= http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/72826|access-date=26 October 2016|pages=104–113|author1=European Commission. Directorate General for Communication|author2=TNS Opinion & Social}}</ref>
<ref name = "Eurobarometer Autumn 2015, EU image">{{Cite book|isbn=978-9279577819|doi=10.2775/89997|id= Catalogue No. NA-04-16-323-EN-N|title= Standard Eurobarometer 84 Autumn 2015 Report: Public opinion in the European Union, Language version EN |date=2016|publisher=[[European Union]]|url= http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/72826|access-date=26 October 2016|pages=114–119|author1=European Commission. Directorate General for Communication|author2=TNS Opinion & Social}}</ref>
}}

===Cited sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite report |last=Alibert |first=Juliette |url=https://eu.boell.org/sites/default/files/euroscepticism_the_root_causes_and_how_to_address_them.pdf |title=Euroscepticism: The root causes and how to address them'' |publisher=[[Heinrich Böll Foundation]] |date=October 2015 }}
* {{cite book|first1=Aleks |last1=Szczerbiak|first2=Paul |last2=Taggart|title=Opposing Europe?: The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism |volume=1: Case Studies and Country Surveys|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press, Oxford|isbn=978-0191531620}}
* {{cite report |first1=Yves |last1=Bertoncini |first2=Nicole |last2=Koenig |url=http://www.institutdelors.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/euroscepticismoreurophobia-bertoncini-koenig-ne-jdi-nov14.pdf |title=Euroscepticism or Europhobia: Voice vs Exit? |publisher=[[Jacques Delors Institute]] |date=November 2014 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |access-date=29 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731025720/http://www.institutdelors.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/euroscepticismoreurophobia-bertoncini-koenig-ne-jdi-nov14.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=FitzGibbon |editor-first2=Benjamin |editor-last2=Leruth |editor-first3=Nick |editor-last3=Startin |title=Euroscepticism as a Transnational and Pan-European Phenomenon |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=2016|isbn=9781317422501 |oclc=1292469703}}
* {{cite book |editor-first1=Robert |editor-last1=Harmsen |editor-first2=Menno |editor-last2=Spiering |title=Euroscepticism: Party Politics, National Identity and European Integration |date=2004 |publisher=[[Rodopi (publisher)|Rodopi]] |isbn=9042019468}}
{{refend}}

{{European Union topics}}

[[Category:Euroscepticism| ]]