Euro-skepticism

An anthology of skeptical viewpoints of European integration has long been missing. Yet the need for students to have a spectrum of opinion on the EU has never been greater. This reader provides a timely corrective as the euro has plunged in value during its early existence and the Danes have voted against joining up. Exploring underreported and often mischaracterized "Euro-skeptic" arguments over the goals and methods of European integration, this collection brings together "Euro-skeptic," "Euro-pessimistic," and "Euro-phobic" speeches, essays, and other documents (some for the first time in English translation) that illustrate the range of opposition to the European Union. Balancing against the integrationist goal of federalism, the book gives a full airing to the various arguments against "ever-closer union." The reader offers classic statements of the "Europe of the Nations" views of Charles de Gaulle and Margaret Thatcher, as well as the current French "sovereignists" such as Charles Pasqua and Jean-Pierre Chevènement and includes more recent British arguments by Michael Portillo and Noel Malcolm. There are interviews with and analyses of far-right or "national-right" movements and their leaders-Jörg Haider and the Austrian Freedom party and Jean-Marie Le Pen and the French National Front. The special case of Norway-the only country that has said "no" (twice) to EU membership—is analyzed by a Norwegian scholar, and two historians argue that European integration overall is in some sense a great illusion or a misguided "division of the West."

Ronald Tiersky is Eastman Professor of Politics at Amherst College and the author of François Mitterrand: The Last French President