Euroscepticism

Dr. Tanja Porčnik participated at the panel discussion on “Euroscepticism in the Russia-Ukraine war“ organized by the Republikon Institute from Budapest, Hungary, on June 16, 2022.

The aim of this article is to explain why Czech media and politicians even raised the possibility of leaving the EU (calling it Czexit), to focus on the debate surrounding this subject, and to try evaluating if or when such a debate might become an issue before the 2019 European Parliamentary elections.

A new survey focused on relations of V4 countries towards the EU is finally out. Politically stable and prospering Czechs are traditionally the most Eurosceptic ones, whereas Poland and Hungary – lately a very popular target of criticism from the EU – remain adamant supporters of the EU membership.

The joint event of the Hungarian Free Market Foundation and Political Capital was searching for answers to the ever present questions such as: what is the program of the far-right, how certain far right groups in Europe differ, should the media give these parties a voice, what effective counter strategies exist and is it possible that these parties form a partnership in the EU parliament.

Republikon Institute used data available from Eurobarometer to construct three categories among voting-age population in Europe: eurosceptics, who are dissatisfied with Europe; “soft eurooptimists”, who, in general, are comfortable with the depth of European integration, and “federalists”, who would give more power to Brussels. The Institute then looked at the ratio of these categories in different countries – with a special focus on Central Eastern Europe.

The proportion of federalists supporting several European decisions has grown from 24% in 2006 to 34% by the end of 2011 – as is revealed by the Republikon Institute’s analysis examining altering attitudes towards the European Union.

However, there are many who think that future challenges can only be faced by further enlargement and deepening of the European unification process.

Fundacja Industrial publisher of Liberté! and Republikon Institute in cooperation with Res Publika Nowa invite You to conference “Euroscepticism – how to prevent citizens aversion to Europe?.

In 2013, Republikon Institute carried out a project funded by the Friedrich Neumann Foundation, called Intensifying Euroscepticism in East Central Europe.

Photo gallery from conference: Euroskepticism – the comparison of Hungarian and Polish cases. 5.04.2013, Lodz.