Robert Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (born 17 May 1962) is a Polish politician of the KORWiN who was elected in May 2014 as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
71-667: Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy ( EFDD or EFD² ) was a Eurosceptic and populist political group in the European Parliament . The EFDD group was a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group that existed during the Seventh European Parliament , with significant changes to group membership. In 2017, it was one of the seven political groups of
142-690: A European Parliament group for the party, in which 78% of participating activists voted for the EFD. On 16 June 2014, Dutch MEP Bas Belder of the Reformed Political Party (SGP) moved from the EFD to the ECR group. The EFD group was reformed on 18 June 2014 with MEPs from existing member parties: the UK Independence Party (United Kingdom) and the Order and Justice (Lithuania), in addition to new affiliates:
213-430: A distinction described by Leruth as being one that is "quite subtle but should not be ignored" given the association of the term Euroscepticism with "European disintegration". Leruth describes Eurorealism as "a pragmatic, anti-federalist, and flexible vision of European integration where the principle of subsidiarity prevails, aiming to reform the current institutional framework to extend the role of national parliaments in
284-708: A far-right party which was a member of the Alliance for Peace and Freedom in the European Parliament. The second one is National Front , also a far right party which criticizes the European bureaucracy, intends to guarantee and preserve national independence and freedom in a liberated Europe; it also reaffirms the Christian roots of Europe. The third one is the People's Party , classified as right or extreme right. In its program for
355-548: A historically high level since 1983. On the other hand, more Europeans (27%) were uncertain and saw the EU as "neither a good thing nor a bad thing", an increase in 19 countries. Despite the overall positive attitude towards the EU but in line with the uncertainty expressed by a growing number of Europeans, the feeling that things were not going in the right direction in both the EU and in their own countries had increased to 50% on EU average since September 2018. The Eurobarometer 93.1 survey
426-525: A part of their empire and I don't want that." The Czech president Václav Klaus rejected the term Euroscepticism for its purported negative undertones, saying at a meeting in April 2012 that the expressions for a Eurosceptic and their opponent should be "a Euro-realist" and someone who is "Euro-naïve", respectively. François Asselineau of the French Popular Republican Union has criticised
497-473: A support for the existence of, and membership of, a form of EU but with opposition to specific EU policies, or in Taggart's and Szczerbiak's words, "where there is NOT a principled objection to European integration or EU membership but where concerns on one (or a number) of policy areas lead to the expression of qualified opposition to the EU, or where there is a sense that 'national interest' is currently at odds with
568-411: A whole, those with a positive image of the EU were down from a high of 52% in 2007 to 37% in autumn 2015; this compares with 23% with a negative image of the EU, and 38% with a neutral image. About 43% of Europeans thought things were "going in the wrong direction" in the EU, compared with 23% who thought things were going "in the right direction" (11% "don't know"). About 32% of EU citizens tend to trust
639-455: Is a neoliberal organisation serving the big business elite at the expense of the working class , that it is responsible for austerity , and drives privatization . Euroscepticism is found in groups across the political spectrum , both left-wing and right-wing , and is often found in populist parties. Although they criticise the EU for many of the same reasons, Eurosceptic left-wing populists focus more on economic issues, such as
710-609: Is a hard Eurosceptic. Followers of Eurosceptic Attack tore down and trampled the European flag on 3 March 2016 at a meeting of the party in the Bulgarian capital Sofia , dedicated to the commemoration of the 138th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire . In the 2019 European Parliament election , Bulgaria remained overwhelmingly pro-EU with the ruling centre-right Gerb party winning with 31%, against 26% for
781-515: Is a socially conservative party that has always held Eurosceptic elements. In 2011 the party openly supported leaving the eurozone , and in 2012 it announced that it supported a full withdrawal from the European Union. The party has also called upon a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In polls it generally received around 10–15%, although in one state it did receive 45% of the vote in 2009. Since
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#1732848112498852-593: Is a soft Eurosceptic party in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Before 2010, the N-VA was pro-European and supported the idea of a democratic European confederation, but has since altered this policy to a more sceptical stance on further European integration and now calls for more democratic transparency within the EU, changes to the EU's common asylum policy and economic reforms to the Eurozone . The N-VA has obtained 26.8% of
923-637: Is relatively low, as Belgium is predominantly Europeanist . In 2019, Vlaams Belang stated in its program for the 2019 European Parliament election that it opposes the creation of a European state, would like to change the Economic and Monetary Union of the EU , and to end the Schengen Area , and refuses the accession of Turkey to the EU. More widely, the euro-sceptic arguments of the Vlaams Belang are based on four pillars: The New Flemish Alliance (N-VA)
994-609: Is represented by 32 MEPs from nine countries. The elections of 2014 saw a big anti-establishment vote in favour of Eurosceptic parties, which took around a quarter of the seats available. Those that came first their national elections included: UKIP in the UK (the first time since 1906 that a party other than Labour or the Conservatives had won a national vote), the National Front in France,
1065-572: Is sentiment or policies in opposition to Europe . For example, American exceptionalism in the United States has long led to criticism of European domestic policy , such as the size of the welfare state in European countries, and foreign policy , such as European countries that did not support the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq . Some scholars consider the gradual difference in terminology between hard and soft Euroscepticism inadequate to accommodate
1136-468: Is the number of and which policies a party opposes, then the question arises of how many must a party oppose and which ones should a party oppose that makes them hard Eurosceptic instead of soft. According to Taggart and Szczerbiak, hard Euroscepticism, or anti-EU-ism, is "a principled opposition to the EU and European integration and therefore can be seen in parties who think that their countries should withdraw from membership, or whose policies towards
1207-559: Is the right-wing Vlaams Belang which is active in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, however the left-wing PTB-PVDA also opposes the EU on many issues, primarily austerity and social policy. In the 2014 European Parliament election , Vlaams Belang lost over half of its previous vote share, polling 4.3% (down 5.5%) and losing 1 of its 2 members of the European Parliament. Despite the presence of Eurosceptic parties in Belgium, their weight
1278-518: Is vocally Eurosceptic is the Human Shield that won 5 out of 151 seats at the 2016 parliamentary election . Their position is generally considered to waver between hard and soft Euroscepticism; it requests thorough reform of the EU so that all member states would be perfectly equal. In the 2019 European Parliament election , the Human Shield gained its first seat in the European Parliament with 6% of
1349-454: The 2016 United States presidential election revealed that the surprise victory of Donald Trump caused an increase in the popularity of the EU in Europe. The increase was strongest among the political right and among respondents who perceived their country as economically struggling. A survey carried out in April 2018 for the European Parliament by Kantar Public consulting found that support for
1420-917: The Brexit Party in the UK (which was only launched on 12 April 2019 by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage ), the National Rally of France (formerly the National Front party until June 2018), Fidesz in Hungary, Lega in Italy, and Law and Justice in Poland. There were also notable falls in support for the Danish People's Party (previously topped the 2014 European election). Whilst Vox got elected with 3 seats, Spain's first Eurosceptic party and Belgium's Vlaams Belang rallied to gain second place after its poor 2014 result. In
1491-494: The Brexit Party , both of which advocated for the immediate withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. During the European Parliament debate about Catalan independence referendum in 2017 , the EFDD, by the voice of Ray Finch considered that European Union should have made some intervention against Spain to protect Catalan independence. He considered that this referendum led to human rights abuses. According to him, people should have
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#17328481124981562-492: The Brexit Party , which he and ten of the other former UKIP MEPs in the group joined, along with one UKIP MEP from the Europe of Nations and Freedom group. On the 26 June 2019 it was reported that the EFDD had failed to register for the 9th European Parliament , making them no longer an official political group. Most of the former members of EFDD have now become part of the Identity and Democracy political group. At foundation,
1633-589: The Danish People's Party (Denmark) and Finns Party (Finland) were admitted into the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and therefore were no longer attached to the EFD. On 12 June 2014, the Five Star Movement (M5S) of Italy, having been rejected by the Greens/EFA and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe groups, offered its activists a limited-choice online referendum to choose
1704-814: The European Court of Human Rights . It declares itself against the Global Compact for Migration . The last one is the Parti libertarien . In early 2019, the party aims to reduce the powers of the European Commission, to abolish the Common Agricultural Policy , to abandon common defense projects, to simplify the exit procedure of the European Union , to reject federalism and to forbid the European Union to direct economic, fiscal or social policy, Finally,
1775-581: The European debt crisis and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership , while Eurosceptic right-wing populists focus more on nationalism and immigration, such as the 2015 European migrant crisis . The rise in radical-right parties since the 2000s is strongly linked to a rise in Euroscepticism. Eurobarometer surveys of EU citizens show that trust in the EU and its institutions declined strongly from 2007 to 2015. In that period, it
1846-913: The People's Party in Denmark and Syriza in Greece. Second places were taken by Sinn Féin in Ireland and the Five Star Movement in Italy. Herman Van Rompuy , the President of the European Council , agreed following the election to re-evaluate the economic area's agenda and to launch consultations on future policy areas with the 28 member states. The elections of 2019 saw the centre-left and centre-right parties suffer significant losses including losing their overall majority, while green , pro-EU liberal, and some Eurosceptic right wing parties saw significant gains. Those that came first in their national elections included:
1917-689: The United Kingdom (53%), and Italy (44%). When asked which issues should be a priority for the European Parliament, survey respondents picked terrorism as the most pressing topic of discussion, ahead of youth unemployment and immigration. Not all countries shared the same priorities. Immigration topped the list in Italy (66% of citizens surveyed considered it a priority issue), Malta (65%), and Hungary (62%) but fighting youth unemployment and support for economic growth were top concerns in Spain , Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, and Croatia . Social protection of citizens
1988-660: The Workers' Party of Belgium is an electoral and unitary party. It also intends to revise the European treaties considered too liberal. One of the Party's currencies is "The left that stings, against the Europe of money". Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views are NFSB , Attack , and VMRO – BND , which is a member of the Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Group . Bulgaria's Minister of Finance, Simeon Djankov , stated in 2011 that ERM II membership to enter
2059-448: The elections of 2024 , 24 EU countries elected at least one member of a Eurosceptic group ( European Conservatives and Reformists Group , Patriots for Europe or Europe of Sovereign Nations ). The three exceptions were Ireland , Malta and Slovenia . The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), established in 1956, is a right-wing populist party that mainly attracts support from young people and workers. In 1989, it changed its stance over
2130-472: The 2017 election, it has 0/183 National Council seats, 0/62 Federal Council seats, and 0/19 European Parliament seats. Team Stronach , established in 2012, has campaigned to reform the European Union, as well as to replace the euro with an Austrian Euro. In 2012, it regularly received 8–10% support in national polls. Politicians from many different parties (including the Social Democratic Party and
2201-628: The BZÖ) as well as previous independents switched their allegiances to the new party upon creation. In two local elections in March 2013, it won 11% of the vote in Carinthia , and 10% of the vote in Lower Austria . It dissolved in 2017. Ewald Stadler , a former member of FPÖ (and later of BZÖ) was very Eurosceptic, but in 2011 became a member of the European Parliament due to the Lisbon Treaty. Before Stadler accepted
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2272-446: The EP rules require. Upon Iwaszkiewicz joining, group leader Nigel Farage stated "To paraphrase Mark Twain 'Rumours of our death have been greatly exaggerated.'" as the group again had members from the required seven countries. The three other members of KNP remained non-inscrits. Iwaszkiewicz cited UKIP's support for free market economy and fight against EU bureaucracy as reasons for joining
2343-549: The EU are tantamount to being opposed to the whole project of European integration as it is currently conceived". The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament (2014–2019) displayed hard Euroscepticism, but following the 2019 EU elections the group was disbanded due to too few members, as its largest member, the British Brexit Party , withdrew ahead of the United Kingdom's formal exit from
2414-654: The EU as an institution, and about 55% do not tend to trust it (13% "don't know"). Distrust of the EU was highest in Greece (81%), Cyprus (72%), Austria (65%), France (65%), the United Kingdom (UK) and the Czech Republic (both 63%). Overall, more respondents distrusted their own government (66%) than they distrusted the EU (55%). Distrust of national government was highest in Greece (82%), Slovenia (80%), Portugal (79%), Cyprus (76%), and France (76%). A Eurobarometer survey carried out four days prior to and six days after
2485-492: The EU as unreformable ( anti-European Unionism , anti-EUism , or hard Euroscepticism ). The opposite of Euroscepticism is known as pro-Europeanism . The main drivers of Euroscepticism have been beliefs that integration undermines national sovereignty and the nation state , that the EU is elitist and lacks democratic legitimacy and transparency , that it is too bureaucratic and wasteful, that it encourages high levels of immigration , or perceptions that it
2556-672: The EU has risen in most EU countries as a result of falling unemployment rates and the end of the migrant crisis. A post- 2019 election Eurobarometer survey showed that 68% of citizens support the EU, the highest level since 1983; however, sentiment that things are not going in the right direction in the EU had increased to 50%. Trust in the EU had increased significantly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with levels varying across member states. The main reasons for Euroscepticism include beliefs that: There can be considered to be several different types of Eurosceptic thought, which differ in
2627-541: The EU to Euroscepticism. It opposed Austria joining the EU in 1994, and opposed the introduction of the euro in 1998. The party would like to leave the EU if it threatens to develop into a country , or if Turkey joins. The FPÖ received 20–27% of the national vote in the 1990s, and more recently received 18% in 2008. Following the 2017 Austrian legislative election , it has 51/183 National Council seats, 16/62 Federal Council seats, and 4/19 European Parliament seats. The Bündnis Zukunft Österreich (BZÖ), established in 2005,
2698-499: The EU was "the highest score ever measured since 1983". Support for the EU was up in 26 out of 28 EU countries, the exceptions being Germany and the UK, where support had dropped by about 2% since the previous survey. Almost half (48%) of the 27,601 EU citizens surveyed agreed that their voice counted in the EU, up from 37% in 2016, whereas 46% disagreed with this statement. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents felt that their country had benefited from EU membership and 60% said that being part of
2769-552: The EU's trajectory." Both the European Conservatives and Reformists Group , dominated by the right-wing Polish party Law and Justice , and the European United Left–Nordic Green Left , which is an alliance of the left-wing parties in the European Parliament, display soft Euroscepticism. The European Conservatives and Reformist Group does not itself use the descriptions Euroscepticism or soft Euroscepticism and instead describes its position as one of Eurorealism,
2840-630: The EU. Some hard Eurosceptics regard their position as pragmatic rather than in principle. Additionally, Tony Benn , a left-wing Labour Party MP who fought against European integration in 1975 by opposing membership of the European Communities in that year's referendum on the issue , emphasised his opposition to xenophobia and his support of democracy , saying: "My view about the European Union has always been not that I am hostile to foreigners, but that I am in favour of democracy. ... I think they're building an empire there, they want us to be
2911-640: The Euro zone would be postponed until after the Eurozone crisis had stabilised. In the 2014 European Parliament election Bulgaria remained overwhelmingly pro-EU, with the Eurosceptic Attack party receiving 3% of the vote, down 9%, with the splinter group National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria taking 3; neither party secured any MEPs. A coalition between VMRO – BND and Bulgaria Without Censorship secured an MEP position for Angel Dzhambazki from IMRO, who
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2982-510: The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group. On 13 February 2018, former group co-president David Borrelli left the M5S and moved to Non-Inscrits . On 3 July 2018, the 2 Sweden Democrats MEPs moved to ECR group. In December 2018, Farage and multiple other MEPs left UKIP in protest over Gerard Batten 's leadership. Batten in turn left the EFDD and then withdrew the remaining further 6 UKIP MEPs. In April 2019, group leader Nigel Farage launched
3053-432: The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy had 48 elected members as follows: In 2019 the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy had 42 members of the European Parliament along with other affiliated parties as follows: The bloc's primary goal was the reduction in the powers of, or even the dissolution of, the European Union. Nigel Farage , the bloc's president, was also the leader of the UK Independence Party and latterly
3124-512: The European election of 2019 the People's Party proposes to abolish the European Commission , reduce the number of European parliamentarians and fight against the worker-posted directive. For this party, the EU must be led by a president elected by universal suffrage with clear but limited competences. It also wants to renegotiate the European Union treaties, restrict the judicial activism of
3195-565: The FPÖ came 3rd with 17.2% of the vote which was only slightly down on 2014 despite a scandal allegedly promising public contracts to a woman posing as a Russian backer. This precipitated the collapse of the ruling coalition and a new election being called. According to Eurostat , in the fall of 2018, 44% of Belgians stated that they did not trust the European Union . The main Eurosceptic party in Belgium
3266-642: The FPÖ increased its vote to 19.7% (up 7.0%), gaining 2 new MEPs, making a total of 4; the party came third, behind the ÖVP and the SPÖ. EU-STOP (the electoral alliance of the EU Withdrawal Party and the Neutral Free Austria Federation ) polled 2.8%, gaining no seats, and the Reform Conservatives 1.2%, with Team Stronach putting up no candidates. In the 2019 European Parliament election ,
3337-514: The Fifth European Parliament and ranked groups, concluding: "Towards the top of the figure are the more pro-European parties (PES, EPP-ED, and ALDE), whereas towards the bottom of the figure are the more anti-European parties (EUL/NGL, G/EFA, UEN and EDD)." In 2004, 37 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the UK, Poland , Denmark and Sweden founded a new European Parliament group called " Independence and Democracy " from
3408-645: The Five Star Movement, the Sweden Democrats (Sweden), the Party of Free Citizens (Czech Republic), the Latvian Farmers Union (Latvia) and a French independent MEP, formerly of the National Front . On 24 June 2014, the EFD group name was revised to Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD), and David Borrelli of the Five Star Movement was chosen as the group's co-president. On 16 October 2014, it
3479-406: The UK, the Eurosceptic UKIP achieved second place in the election, finishing ahead of the governing Labour Party, and the British National Party (BNP) won its first-ever two MEPs. Although new members joined the ID group from Greece and the Netherlands , it was unclear whether the group would reform in the new parliament. The ID group did reform, as the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) and
3550-447: The bloc was a good thing, as opposed to 12% who felt the opposite. At the height of the EU's financial and economic crises in 2011, just 47% had been of the view that EU membership was a good thing. Support for EU membership was greatest in Malta (93%), Ireland (91%), Lithuania (90%), Poland (88%), Luxembourg (88%), Estonia (86%), and Denmark (84%), and lowest in Greece (57%), Bulgaria (57%), Cyprus (56%), Austria (54%),
3621-467: The decision-making process." Steven states that "Eurorealism is a form of conservativism, first and foremost, rather than a form or Euroscepticism, even if it obviously very much also has the 'soft' Eurosceptic tendencies which are present in a number of ECR member parties." While having some overlaps, Euroscepticism and anti-Europeanism are different. Euroscepticism is criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration . Anti-Europeanism
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#17328481124983692-402: The extent to which adherents reject integration between member states of the EU and in their reasons for doing so. Aleks Szczerbiak and Paul Taggart described two of these as hard and soft Euroscepticism. At the same time, some scholars have said that there is no clear line between the presumed hard and soft Euroscepticism. Cas Mudde and Petr Kopecky have said that if the demarcation line
3763-462: The group continued its activities until 26 June 2019, when it was also dissolved following the 2019 European Parliament election . Following the 2014 European parliament elections , the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group faced difficulties reforming for the 8th European Parliament , with various member parties and MEPs of the previous term's EFD either defecting to different parliamentary groups or failing to be re-elected. On 4 June 2014,
3834-428: The group. He is a former member of the UPR and KNP . In 2015 he was co-founder of paleolibertarian party KORWiN . He is a member of the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection . Member of the Organization of Polish Monarchists. He is an individual member of the Extreme-Right European political party Alliance of European National Movements . This article about
3905-404: The large differences in terms of political agenda; hard Euroscepticism has also been referred to as Europhobia as opposed to mere Euroscepticism . Other alternative names for hard and soft Euroscepticism include withdrawalist and reformist , respectively. A survey in November 2015 , conducted by TNS Opinion and Social on behalf of the European Commission , showed that, across the EU as
3976-533: The old Europe of Democracies and Diversities (EDD) group. The main goal of the ID group was to reject the proposed Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe . Some delegations within the group, notably that from UKIP, also advocated the complete withdrawal of their country from the EU, while others only wished to limit further European integration. The elections of 2009 saw a significant fall in support in some areas for Eurosceptic parties, with all such MEPs from Poland, Denmark and Sweden losing their seats. In
4047-525: The other party's MEPs remained Non-Inscrits . On 24 January 2015, Amjad Bashir was suspended from UKIP pending a party investigation into financial fraud: Bashir defected to the Conservative Party within an hour of his suspension. On 20 March 2015, Janice Atkinson was suspended from UKIP and later expelled on 23 March for alleged financial fraud. Atkinson joined the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group at its launch on 15 June 2015. In April 2015, Valentinas Mazuronis left Order and Justice and joined
4118-423: The parliament. This group was opposed to European integration . Twenty-four out of its 47 MEPs were from the United Kingdom, representing the UK Independence Party . Its president was British politician Nigel Farage , who was first elected for the UK Independence Party , and then became an independent in 2018 before becoming leader of the Brexit Party in 2019. David Borrelli of the Italian Five Star Movement
4189-447: The ranks of Labour Party , also leaving the EFDD. On 8 April 2016, Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP Beatrix von Storch left the ECR group to join EFDD. On 24 October 2016, Steven Woolfe left the group to sit as Non-Inscrits, followed by Diane James on 20 November 2016. On 9 January 2017, the Five Star Movement voted in an online referendum to leave EFDD in order to join the ALDE group; however, they were rejected by ALDE later
4260-553: The right to vote even when the referendum is illegal. [REDACTED] Media related to Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy at Wikimedia Commons Euroscepticism Euroscepticism , also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism , is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration . It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek reform ( Eurorealism , Eurocritical , or soft Euroscepticism ), to those who oppose EU membership and see
4331-456: The same day. In the aftermath, two MEPs left the group, with Marco Affronte defected to the Greens/EFA group, and Marco Zanni to the ENL group. Other Five Star Movement MEPs pulled out of switching parliamentary group after threatened by party leader Beppe Grillo with a fine of €250,000. In October 2017, with change in the French National Front , Florian Philippot , president of the "Patriotes", Sophie Montel and Mireille d'Ornano join
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#17328481124984402-422: The seat, this led to heavy critics by Jörg Leichtfried (SPÖ) "Stadler wants to just rescue his political career" because Stadler before mentioned he would never accept a seat as MEP if this was only due to the Lisbon Treaty. On 23 December 2013 he founded a conservative and Eurosceptic party called The Reform Conservatives , although it has been inactive since June 2016. In the 2014 European Parliament election ,
4473-565: The socialist BSP. Since the 2021–2023 Bulgarian political crisis , the far-right hard Eurosceptic party Revival has outplaced Attack, with it getting 14% on the most recent 2023 Bulgarian parliamentary election . Parties with Eurosceptic views are mainly small right-wing parties like Croatian Party of Rights , Croatian Party of Rights dr. Ante Starčević , Croatian Pure Party of Rights , Autochthonous Croatian Party of Rights , Croatian Christian Democratic Party and Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia . The only parliamentary party that
4544-495: The use of the term 'sceptic' to describe hard Eurosceptics, and would rather advocate the use of the term "Euro opponent". He believes the use of the term 'sceptic' for soft Eurosceptics to be correct, since other Eurosceptic parties in France are "merely criticising" the EU without taking into account the fact that the Treaty of Rome can only be modified with a unanimous agreement of all the EU member states, something he considers impossible to achieve. Soft Euroscepticism reflects
4615-429: The vote putting it in 5th place. Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views in Cyprus are the Progressive Party of Working People and ELAM . Robert Iwaszkiewicz Originally a non-inscrit in the EP, he joined the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) on 20 October 2014. The EFDD had briefly ceased to exist when Iveta Grigule left the group since it no longer had representatives from seven countries as
4686-406: The votes or 4 seats of the Dutch-language college out of 12 (21 MEPs for Belgium) in the 2014 European Parliament election . In April 2019, it stood in European Conservatives and Reformists Group of the European Parliament, and can be considered a moderate Eurosceptic party. In the French-speaking part of Belgium ( Walloons ), there are four Eurosceptic parties. The first one is Nation Movement ,
4757-406: Was announced that Iveta Grigule MEP from the Latvian Farmers' Union defected from EFDD to the ALDE group, resulting in the collapse of the group because it was no longer composed of representatives from at least a quarter of the EU's Member States. The criterion was restored on 20 October, with one Polish MEP, Robert Iwaszkiewicz from Congress of the New Right (KNP), joining the group, although
4828-419: Was co-president until January 2017, when he had to resign the co-presidency after a failed attempt by his party to transfer to the ALDE group . The parliamentary group was originally linked to the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE); however, the Alliance later ceased activities in 2016 after an auditors' inquiry found misspending of EU funds and was eventually dissolved on 24 May 2017. Nonetheless,
4899-454: Was consistently below 50%. A 2009 survey showed that support for EU membership was lowest in the United Kingdom (UK), Latvia , and Hungary . By 2016, the countries viewing the EU most unfavourably were the UK, Greece , France , and Spain . The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum resulted in a 51.9% vote in favour of leaving the EU ( Brexit ), a decision that came into effect on 31 January 2020. Since 2015, trust in
4970-550: Was in the field across Europe when the European Council summit reached political agreement on a pandemic economic recovery fund (later named Next Generation EU ) on 21 July 2020. A comparison of Eurobarometer responses gathered before this seminal decision and interviews conducted shortly thereafter indicates that the European Council's endorsement of pandemic economic relief increased popular support of COVID-19 economic recovery aid - but only among Europeans who view EU decisionmakers as trustworthy. A study analysed voting records of
5041-406: Was the top concern for Dutch, Swedish, and Danish respondents. The April 2019 Eurobarometer showed that despite the challenges of the past years, and in cases such as the ongoing debate surrounding Brexit, possibly even because of it, the European sense of togetherness had not weakened, with 68% of respondents across the EU27 believing that their countries have benefited from being part of the EU,
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