Source: WikipediaEurosceptic refers to opposition
to further European integration, coupled with a desire to roll
back integration already accomplished. In this context, its antonym
is europhile
Euroscepticism is stronger in wealthier
European countries, either full European Union members (UK, Sweden,
Denmark), candidate (Malta) and non-candidate (Switzerland, especially
in German speaking cantons). Mediterranean countries tend to be
more europhile, although eurosceptic movements exist there, too.
Precisely what eurosceptics oppose varies
from country to country: in countries outside the European Union
(e.g. Norway, Switzerland, the candidate countries), euroscepticism
manifests itself as opposition to joining it (in the case of Norway,
the most serious concern is disagreement with current EU fishery
policies); in those which are members, but do not participate
in the Euro (the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden) it manifests
itself as opposition to Euro membership. Opposition to monetary
union can, in turn, be rooted in economic concerns which are predominantly
right wing (UK) or predominantly left wing (Sweden).
Eurosceptics oppose the idea of a federal
Europe in the sense of a federation that is as integrated as,
or more closely integrated than, the United States of America.
They therefore oppose measures they see as leading towards that
goal, such as the European Rapid Reaction Force, the constitutionalisation
of the treaties, the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor
(or even the establishment of EUROJUST), the extension of EUROPOL
to include enforcement powers, the harmonization of taxation or
social security, and the extension of codecision or qualified
majority voting. They often propose radical modifications to the
constitutional structure of the EU to reassert the power of national
parliaments, such as the establishment of a chamber of national
parliamentarians with power to overturn any Community act, including
even decisions of the European Court of Justice.
Euroscepticism might have been the cause
(at least in part) for:
the Norwegian rejection of EU membership,
on both occasions
the Swiss rejection of membership in the European Economic Area
the initial Danish rejection of the Maastricht treaty
the Danish rejection of the euro
the Irish rejection of the Nice treaty in the first referendum
(approved in the second referendum on October 20 2002).
In the case of the UK, most newspapers are
strongly Eurosceptic and have been known to publish many anti-EU
stories that the European Union and their Europhile supporters
feel are inaccurate or have been invented. In response they have
created web sites to refute and/or explain the actual details.
Eurosceptics have also created their own
to show their arguments. Commonly, UK Eurosceptic tabloids also
tend to play on former conflicts and national stereotypes to denigrate
the UK's European neighbours. For this reason (among others),
they have often been accused of being xenophobic.
