Putting Brexit into perspective: the effect of the Eurozone and migration crises and Brexit on Euroscepticism in European states

Abstract

This paper examines the link between recent EU crises and the development of party-based Euroscepticism across Europe. It draws on data from expert surveys with qualitative data to outline the way in which we can empirically see the link between the impacts of the crises in European states, and how far, and in what ways, Euroscepticism has been mobilized by political parties in those states. It identifies four main frames through which the EU is contested in European states which focus on: economic factors, immigration, democracy/sovereignty and national factors. It also shows that there has been a clear difference between the impacts of the different crises. While the Eurozone crisis had a particularly powerful effect in the party systems of those countries most affected by the bailout packages and the migration crisis had a particularly strong effect on party politics in the post-communist states of central Europe, Brexit has had a very limited impact on national party politics, although this may change in the longer-term.

National Sovereignty vs. International Cooperation: Policy Choices in Trade‐Off Situations

“…For this purpose, we focus on the trade‐off between access to the economic benefits of EU integration versus the loss of sovereign immigration control. This trade‐off was front and centre in the UK’s Brexit debate (Goodwin and Milazzo ; Hobolt ; Owen and Walter ), has been a major source of growing euroscepticism in Eastern European states (Taggart and Szczerbiak ) and continues to dominate the debate about Swiss‐EU bilateral relations (Milic ; Sciarini et al. ).…”

Half-full or half-empty? Framing of UK–EU relations during the Brexit referendum campaign

“…A more recent strand investigates how elements such as public debt and the influx of refugees are framed as crises and its impact on domestic politics (Schimmelfennig 2014;Greussing and Boomgaarden 2017;Börzel and Risse 2018). Looking at the relationship between crises, public opinion and political competition, Taggart and Szczerbiak (2018) analyse how parties use economic, migration, sovereignty/democracy and national frames to mobilise euroscepticism and obtain political payoffs. Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) identify five types of frames used to report European politics: conflict frames emphasize opposition between individuals, groups or institutions and are common during presidential elections, referenda and in ideologically driven debates (Dennison and Geddes 2018).…”

Brexit futures: Between a model and a martyr: An addendum to ‘Brexit and EU Legitimation’

“…Tying it back to Taggart and Szczerbiak’s (2018: 18) claim that the consequences of Brexit will likely become ‘filtered and interpreted through the different narratives of Euroenthusiasts and Eurosceptics’, we might ask: To what extent does one type of representation dominate and approach hegemony within mainstream politics? Have those wishing to follow the Brexit model been relegated to the margins, or have Brexit’s implications – in a given country – become essentially contested in mainstream discourse (thus, cancelling the other out)?…”