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RadicalandPopulistEuroscepticPartiesatthe2014EuropeanElections
alteredthedynamicsofthechamber,byforcingtheEPPandtheS&Dto
dilutetheirdifferences.Theuseofthegrandcoalition(betweentheEPP,the
S&D,andALDE)asameanstopasskeylegislationintheEPhasincreased,
andtheEPPandS&Dvotedthesamewayinfouroutoffivevotesinthe
firstsixmonths.Asaresult,EUpoliticsmaybecomeevenlesscleartoEU
citizens,asitwillbeevenmoredifficultforthemtoidentifytheagendaof
mainstreampartiesandrelatetothem.Moreimportantly,radicalrightand
populistpartiesmayhaveanincreasinginfluenceinsomeMemberStates.
Theyareable,inseveralcountries,toshapeorevenredefinetheagenda
andinfluencethecompetition,evenimpactingoncentre-leftparties.18David
Cameronannouncedtheorganisationofareferendum,callingformajor
reformsoftheEUandatougherimmigrationpolicy,whileFrançoisHollande
arguedaftertheEuropeanelectionsthattheEUneedstobereformed,and
itspowerscaledback.Theserecentexamplesshowhowthesuccessof
radicalrightandpopulistpartiescanpushmainstreampoliticalpartiesto
takeharderpositionsonissuessuchastheEU,reformofthewelfarestate
andimmigration,inthehopeofwinningbacksomevoters.
ThisIssueofThePolishQuarterlyofInternationalAffairs
ThistimelyissueofThePolishQuarterlyoffersacollectionof
veryinterestingarticles,alltacklingtheissueoftheriseofrightwing
EuroscepticismacrossEuropeoneyearaftertheirsuccessattheEPelections.
Eachtakesanationalperspectivetodescribeandexplainthe(potentially
short-lived)successofEurosceptic,populistandradicalrightpartiesin
aparticularcountry.Theyevidencetheparticularsituationofsuchparties,
showingthat,whiletheytendtohavetheirgreatestsuccessattheEuropean
elections,andtheirseatsintheEPgivethemaplatformandresourcesto
increasetheirvisibilityandlegitimacy,domesticpoliticsremaintheirmain
focusandthesupranationallevelissecondary.
LadislavCabada’sarticlefocusesonEuroscepticismintheCzech
Republic.Thecountryhasbeenconsideredatrouble-makersinceitjoined
theEU,especiallywiththeEuroscepticpositionsofitsformerpresident,
VáclavKlaus.Theauthorprovidesin-depthanalysisofthechangingposition
ofthemainrightwingparty,theODS,showinghowitsstancetowardsthe
EUhasdevelopedfrompro-EUtoEurorealist.Hethenconcentratesonthe
18
M.Caiani,D.dellaPorta,C.Wagemann,MobilizingontheExtremeRight:Germany,Italy,
andtheUnitedStates,OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford,2012.
ThePolishQuarterlyofInternationalAffairs,2015,no.2
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