List of forms of government
115-613: The Referendum Party was a Eurosceptic , single-issue political party that was active in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997. The party's sole objective was for a referendum to be held on the nature of the UK's membership of the European Union (EU). Specifically, it called for a referendum on whether the British electorate wanted to be part of a federal European state or to revert to being
230-568: A pressure group closely associated with the former Conservative supporter and multi-millionaire businessman Paul Sykes . The Eurosceptic cause was weakened; with Blair's firmly pro-EU government in power, by 1998 the possibility of a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU was considered as distant as it had been in 1995. Under the direction of UKIP's leader Michael Holmes , UKIP's chairman Nigel Farage began recruiting former Referendum Party members to their own group; according to Farage, around 160 of
345-625: A videocassette to five million UK households in March 1997. This was a novel strategy in British politics, and was conceived as a way of reaching the electorate while bypassing the mass media. The packaging of the videocassette did not specify that it was produced by the Referendum Party but rather carried several slogans: "The most important video you'll ever watch", "The story the politicians don't want you to hear", and "If you care about Britain, please pass this video on." The 12-minute film, presented by
460-461: A "European superstate is nothing more than a sovereign state - a tried and tested type of polity that predominates in the modern world - operating on a European wide scale", i.e., "a unitary European state". Especially after the European debt crisis, economic literature started to discuss the role of European union as a European superstate. In particular, they compared the emergence of a debt union to
575-438: A "single-issue movement" that had attributes of both a political party and a pressure group . While it took part in elections, it focused on a single issue and stated that if it got Members of Parliament (MP) elected their sole aim would be to secure a referendum. It also claimed that on achieving its main aim, the party would disband, unlike most political parties; as Goldsmith put in his October 1995 "Statement of Aims": "This
690-515: A Member of Parliament representing Britain's Conservative Party, and he had personally had a close relationship to the party when it was led by Margaret Thatcher , Goldsmith wanted to launch his campaign independently of the Conservatives, hoping that it could draw on cross-party concerns about the direction of the EU. At the time of the party's formation, Goldsmith had an estimated personal wealth of £ 800 million, and promised to put £20 million into
805-430: 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
920-657: 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
1035-503: 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
1150-473: A lesser extent, Liberal Democrat) in 1992. Hardly anyone who had voted Labour in 1992 supported Goldsmith's party." Their evidence indicated that just under two-thirds of those who voted for the Referendum Party in 1997 had voted for the Conservatives in 1992, although the analysis also suggested that many of these people were dissatisfied with the Conservative government and would not have voted for them even had
1265-591: A newspaper, News from the Referendum Party , to attract wider attention to its aims and broaden its support. One issue, published in February 1996, was delivered to 24 million households at an estimated cost of £2 million. The party also sought to attract the support of prominent figures from business, the arts, and academia, inviting them to its major events. In October 1996, it held a national conference in Brighton , in which forty speakers addressed an audience of 5,000. Among
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#17328450415961380-525: 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
1495-555: A sophisticated administrative centre and to secure the expertise to carry out a political campaign, establishing his headquarters in London. By October 1995, the party had established a hierarchical structure consisting of three tiers: the centre, region and constituency. Operating the centre was Goldsmith and a cabinet whose membership included Lord McAlpine , who was a former treasurer of the Conservative Party, and two former members of
1610-634: A sovereign nation that was part of a European free-trade bloc without wider political functions. The Referendum Party was founded by the Anglo-French multi-millionaire businessman and politician James Goldsmith in November 1994. A Eurosceptic who had previously had close links to the UK's governing Conservative Party , he was also an elected Member of the European Parliament for the Movement for France party. He used his financial resources and contacts to promote
1725-473: 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
1840-541: A training day at a Manchester hotel in February 1997, where they were presented with several hours of speeches and given a handbook. Many felt that the event had been a public relations exercise rather than a concerted effort to train candidates. Goldsmith's party was the biggest spender on press advertising in the 1997 campaign; it spent three times as much as the Conservatives and five times as much as Labour on press adverts. Its media profile greatly eclipsed that of UKIP. Goldsmith also used his financial resources to deliver
1955-411: 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
2070-609: 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
2185-416: 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 the EU as unreformable ( anti-European Unionism , anti-EUism , or hard Euroscepticism ). The opposite of Euroscepticism
2300-512: Is a single-issue biodegradable party which will be dissolved once we have achieved our aim." The referendum question which the party proposed was announced on 28 November 1996: "Do you want the United Kingdom to be part of a federal Europe or do you want the United Kingdom to return to an association of sovereign nations that are part of a common trading market?" The political scientists David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh noted that this question
2415-515: 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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#17328450415962530-593: 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
2645-614: Is distinct from the concept of superpower , although these are sometimes seen together. In the early 20th century, "superstate" had a similar definition as today's supranational organisations . In a 1927 article by Edward A. Harriman on the League of Nations , a superstate was defined as merely "an organisation, of which a state is a member, which is superior to the member themselves", in that "[a] complete superstate has legislative, executive and judicial organs to make, to execute and to interpret its laws". According to this definition, Harriman saw
2760-404: 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 is a neoliberal organisation serving
2875-637: 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)
2990-508: 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,
3105-572: 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
3220-468: 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
3335-559: 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
3450-518: 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
3565-516: The 2001 general election , much of the support that had previously gone to the Referendum Party went not to UKIP but to the Conservatives, whose leader William Hague had employed Eurosceptic rhetoric throughout his campaign. Rupert Lowe , one of the Referendum Party's candidates in the 1997 general election, was elected as the Brexit Party 's lead candidate for the West Midlands constituency in
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3680-454: 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
3795-473: The 2019 European Parliament elections and was later elected MP for Reform UK for the constituency of Great Yarmouth . James Glancy , another of the Brexit Party's MEPs, has compared the Brexit Party to the Referendum Party, being a "united and diverse group of people from different political backgrounds". Eurosceptic Euroscepticism , also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism ,
3910-863: 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
4025-482: The Conservative Central Office staff. The centre had around 50 staff, who relayed Goldsmith's instructions through to the ten regional co-ordinators, who in turn transmitted them to the prospective candidates in the constituencies. This top-down and undemocratic structure concentrated decision making with Goldsmith and the centre and provided little autonomy for the regions and constituencies, although this
4140-758: 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,
4255-581: 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
4370-566: The Maastricht Treaty in 1993 the EC became the European Union .The UK's ratification of the treaty in 1992, followed by its passing of the European Communities (Finance) Act in 1994–95, generated much controversy and infighting within the UK's Conservative Party , which was then in government under Prime Minister John Major . This caused considerable damage to Major's administration, which
4485-973: 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:
4600-633: 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
4715-660: 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
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4830-416: 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
4945-448: 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
5060-522: The 1970s, academic literature used the term "superstate" to indicate a particularly rich and powerful state, in a similar fashion to the term superpower . In this context, the term was applied to Japan , as contemporary academics suggested that Japan could displace the U.S. as the world's sole superpower , becoming the world's foremost economic power in the (then) near future because of its economic growth in recent decades . The prediction did not come true . In contemporary political debate, especially
5175-472: 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
5290-580: 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
5405-544: The Conservative Party were pressing Major to enter talks with Goldsmith, although the Prime Minister refused to engage in any formal dialogue. The electoral threat posed by Goldsmith's party was taken seriously among the Conservatives, with senior party figures like Major, Ken Clarke , Douglas Hurd , Brian Mawhinney and Michael Heseltine launching vitriolic and often personal criticisms of Goldsmith and his group. Hurd declared that "the government's policy must not be put at
5520-580: The Conservatives' failure. Immediately after the election, the Referendum Party renamed itself the Referendum Movement. Goldsmith had been suffering from pancreatic cancer , and had been warned that competing in the election would shorten his life. He died in Benahavis , Spain, on 18 July 1997, and the party disbanded shortly afterwards. Some of its members transformed into the Democracy Movement ,
5635-553: 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
5750-654: 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
5865-672: 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
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#17328450415965980-541: 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,
6095-499: 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
6210-616: 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,
6325-568: 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
6440-640: 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
6555-415: The European Parliament, something that ensured that the grouping remained large enough to retain its Parliamentary funding. It also avoided putting up candidates in constituencies where the leading candidate (65 of them Conservatives, 26 Labour and 2 Liberal Democrats) was considered sympathetic to the Referendum Party's call for a referendum. Goldsmith appeared to acknowledge that it was unlikely to win any of
6670-512: 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
6785-565: 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
6900-642: 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 ,
7015-446: 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
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#17328450415967130-447: The League of Nations as a "rudimentary superstate", and the United States of America as "an example of a complete and perfect superstate". In World Order of Bahá'u'lláh , first published in 1938, Shoghi Effendi , the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith , described the anticipated world government of that religion as the "world’s future super-state" with the Baháʼí Faith as the "State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power." In
7245-420: The MP for Reigate , defected to it from the Conservatives shortly before that year's general election. In the build-up to the May 1997 general election , the Referendum Party spent more on press advertising than either the incumbent Conservatives or their main rival, the Labour Party . It stood candidates in 547 of the 659 constituencies, more than any minor party had ever fielded in a UK election. Ultimately
7360-407: The Referendum Party had a greater impact on the Conservatives than previous research suggested. They argued that the Referendum Party cost the Conservatives an average of 3.4% of the vote. Their analysis further suggested that there were 16 seats where the involvement of the Referendum Party directly cost the Conservative candidate their victory, and a further three where it was a contributing factor to
7475-460: The Referendum Party not existed. Heath et al noted that "voters for the Referendum Party were remarkably Eurosceptic but were unremarkable in most other respects. They show no sign of being right-wing on the economic issues of the left-right dimension and they were not consistently right-wing ideologues." Those who voted for the party held a diversity of ideological positions, the only shared factor being their Euroscepticism. According to analysis by
7590-418: The Referendum Party's candidates joined UKIP. Among those who did so was Jeffrey Titford , who later became one of UKIP's first MEPs. Other former members of the Referendum Party joined the Democratic Party , a small Eurosceptic group founded in 1998. In the 1999 Kensington and Chelsea by-election , one candidate stood under the banner of the now-defunct "Referendum Party"; they came eleventh, with 57 votes. In
7705-413: The UK's national newspapers, as well as two cinema advertisements. This generated criticism from those who accused it of "cheque-book politics" in the manner of Perot in the US. This financial backing and infrastructure contrasted with that of another single-issue Eurosceptic Party, the UK Independence Party (UKIP), which was operating with little finances and a skeleton organisation at the time. Although
7820-406: 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
7935-405: The [1997 general] election, it did attract a respectable level of support and its presence contributed to the Conservative's dismal electoral performance." — Carter, Evans, Alderman, and Gorham, 1998 The general election resulted in a victory for Tony Blair 's Labour Party, which adopted a pro-EU stance. Labour's victory was considered a landslide , thus making the Referendum Party's role in
8050-447: 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%),
8165-445: The burdens of statehood, that is, the duties of intensive governance and respect for human rights that are carried by all modern states. But superstates also carry the burdens of empire, principally the burden of holding together a large and diverse population spread across a vast territory. Superstates are distinguished from ordinary states by problems of governance that are intensified by scale, diversity, and complexity". In this view,
8280-512: The contested seats, stating that the party's success would be "judged solely by its total number of votes". The party officially launched its electoral campaign on 9 April 1997 at Newlyn in Cornwall , where Goldsmith sought to whip up Eurosceptic sentiment among fishermen who were angry with the restrictions imposed by EU fishing quotas. In the election, which took place on 1 May 1997, the Referendum Party polled 811,827 votes. This represented 2.6% of
8395-467: 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
8510-534: The election fairly irrelevant. The Conservatives had gained only 30.7% of the vote, a drop from the 41.9% they had attained in 1992 and the lowest vote share that they had received since the establishment of modern British party politics in 1832. Their representation in the House of Commons fell by over half, from 343 to 165; their lowest representation in the House since 1906 . The reasons for their electoral decline were many and
8625-446: 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
8740-508: The federal structure of Germany. The term was famously used by Margaret Thatcher in her 1988 Bruges speech , when she decried the perspective of "a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels", and has since entered the eurosceptic lexicon. Tony Blair argued in 2000 that he welcomed an EU as a "superpower, not a superstate". In a 2022 study, Alasdair Roberts argues that superstates should be construed as hybrid forms of political organization: "Every superstate carries
8855-541: The formation of the Referendum Party on 27 November 1994. Goldsmith had once been a strong supporter of the EC but had grown disenchanted with it during the early 1990s, becoming particularly concerned that it was forming into a superstate governed by centralised institutions in Brussels . He opposed the Maastricht Treaty, believing that it resulted in increased German dominance in Europe. As an economic protectionist , he
8970-467: The former That's Life! presenter Gavin Campbell , warned of a coming "federal European super-state". In his analysis of the video, scholar David Hass argued that the film was deliberately designed to elicit fear in the viewer, something achieved through "eerie sound effects", the image of a blue stain spreading across a map of Europe, and slow-motion shots of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl striding towards
9085-459: The idea that they would require a referendum on any proposed economic and monetary union with the EU; the Liberal Democrats had already committed to this idea. It is difficult to quantify what role the Referendum Party had on the adoption of this position. Goldsmith condemned the Conservatives' pledge as an "empty gesture". Concerned that they would lose votes to the Referendum Party, many in
9200-473: The impact of the Referendum Party was not a major factor. The Referendum Party nevertheless may have cost the Conservatives certain seats. Many Conservatives themselves believed that this was the case. As noted by Anthony Heath, Roger Jowell, Bridget Taylor, and Katarina Thomson from their analysis of polling data, "voters for the Referendum Party were certainly not a cross-section of the electorate. They were predominantly people who had voted Conservative (and, to
9315-540: The issue to the High Court of Justice , which sided with the BBC. The broadcast featured Goldsmith talking directly to the camera, arguing for a referendum. Goldsmith implied that the BBC had a pro-EU agenda by referring to it as the "Brussels News Corporation", also claiming that there was a "conspiracy of silence" negatively impacting the coverage received by his party. In 1996, both the Conservative and Labour Parties committed to
9430-404: 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
9545-432: The looming possibility that the country would adopt the euro currency. The Referendum Party did not contest any of the by-elections in 1996 and 1997. For the 1997 general election, it hurried its selection of candidates, who had only one interview—and no background checks or screening—before acceptance. The funding for each candidate's official campaign was supplied entirely by the party centre. Candidates were brought to
9660-578: The mercy of millionaires who play with British politics as a hobby or as a boost to newspaper sales". In the general election, candidates for the Referendum Party stood in 547 constituencies, the most that any minor party had ever fielded in a UK election. None of these candidates were in Northern Ireland. This was because Goldsmith had made an agreement with Northern Ireland's Ulster Unionist Party that he would not field any candidates against them if their one MEP joined his Europe of Nations grouping in
9775-617: The months following the election, the party renamed itself the Referendum Movement. Goldsmith died in July 1997, and the party disbanded shortly afterward. Some of its supporters reformed as a Eurosceptic pressure group called the Democracy Movement while many others joined Eurosceptic political parties like the UK Independence Party and the Democratic Party . The United Kingdom joined the European Communities (EC) in 1973. Following
9890-455: The national total, and the party averaged 3.1% in the seats which it contested. 42 of the party's candidates gained over 5% of the vote and thus saw the return of their deposits, which were then priced at £500 each; 505 deposits were lost. The party gained over 7% in four constituencies including John Aspinall in Folkestone and Hythe who received 8% of the vote. Much media attention was focused on
10005-415: The new venture, in which he was assisted by other former Conservatives. The party's structure was centralised and hierarchical, giving Goldsmith near-total control over its operations. Although not offering party membership, it claimed to have 160,000 registered "supporters", a number that was probably an exaggeration. The party gained a Member of Parliament (MP) for two weeks in 1997, when George Gardiner ,
10120-578: 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
10235-554: The one centred on the European Union , the term "superstate" is used to indicate a development in which the Union develops from its current de facto status as a confederation to become a fully-fledged federation , known as the United States of Europe . For instance, Glyn Morgan contrasts the perspective of a "European superstate" to the ones of "a Europe of nation-states" and of "a post-sovereign European polity". In her definition,
10350-566: The party began recruiting candidates to contest the next general election. Goldsmith was also able to obtain celebrity endorsements. Despite Goldsmith's longstanding criticism of the mainstream media—he had previously stated that "reporting in England is a load of filth"—the party used its finances to promote its message in the media. It hired Ian Beaumont , who had formerly been the press officer to Thatcher's government, to work for it. The party paid for many full-page and some double-page advertisement in
10465-435: The party gained 811,827 votes, representing 2.6% of the national total; it failed to win any seats in the House of Commons . Support was strongest in southern and eastern England, and weakest in inner London, northern England, and Scotland. Following the election, psephologists argued that the impact of the Referendum Party deprived Conservative candidates of victory in somewhere between four and sixteen parliamentary seats. In
10580-515: The party had faced criticism and mockery, it gained much media exposure. Two months before the 1997 election, the party gained an MP in the House of Commons when George Gardiner , the Conservative MP for Reigate , switched allegiance to the Referendum Party after his local Conservative branch deselected him due to critical comments that he had made about Major. By the time of the 1997 general election , polls suggested that Eurosceptic sentiment
10695-590: The party was considerably weaker in Inner London, Northern England, and Scotland; it secured only 1.1% of the Scottish vote. This may have reflected greater pro-EU sentiment in Scotland or a perception that the Referendum Party's Euroscepticism was a form of English nationalism rather than British nationalism . The Referendum Party had proved more electorally successful than its Eurosceptic rival, UKIP, which averaged 1.2% of
10810-414: The party. He pledged to spend at least £10 million on campaigning for the next general election, to ensure that his party was funded to the same extent as the country's larger political parties. Goldsmith's intervention in British politics has been compared with that of the multi-millionaires Ross Perot in the United States and Silvio Berlusconi in Italy. "Let me make just one promise, just one vow. We
10925-529: The political scientist John Curtice and psephologist Michael Steed , "only a handful of the Conservatives' losses of seats can be blamed on the intervention of the Referendum Party". Their estimate was that only four seats would have been Conservative without the Referendum Party standing. For this reason, Butler and Kavanagh stated that the Referendum Party "had only a limited effect on the Conservatives' fortunes". On employing aggregate constituency data, Ian McAllister and Donley T. Studlar disagreed, arguing that
11040-467: The rabble army, we in the Referendum Party, we will strive with all our strength to obtain for the people of these islands the right to decide whether or not Britain should remain a nation." — James Goldsmith, 1994 According to the political scientists Matthew Goodwin and Robert Ford , the Referendum Party was "a classic single-issue party". Similarly, the political scientists Neil Carter, Mark Evans, Keith Alderman, and Simon Gorham described it as
11155-449: The screen. In Hass' view, the film "manifestly reduced that complex issue of Europe to the lowest common denominator, and aimed to shock." The BBC also permitted the party one five-minute party political broadcast because it was fielding over 50 candidates. The party insisted that it should have three such broadcasts, but the BBC claimed that this was disproportionate for a smaller, new party with no elected representation. The party took
11270-633: The seat of Putney , where Goldsmith had stood as the Referendum candidate against incumbent Conservative MP David Mellor ; Goldsmith secured 3.5% of the votes, losing his deposit , and the seat was won by the Labour candidate. Although it failed to win any seats, the party exhibited the strongest performance of a minor party in recent UK political history. Support had been strongest in the south and east of England, in particular in areas with high elderly populations and high rates of agricultural employment. Support for
11385-422: 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 ,
11500-565: 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
11615-414: The speakers were the actor Edward Fox , the ecologist David Bellamy , the politician George Thomas , and the zookeeper John Aspinall . The conference had been staged largely to impress the media, at a cost of £750,000, although unsympathetic media outlets were reportedly banned from attending. By the time of the conference, the party was increasingly reflecting its Eurosceptic intentions, particularly with
11730-465: The use of slogans like "No Surrender to Brussels". Early supporters fell largely into three types: committed Eurosceptics, disaffected Conservatives, and those who—though not necessarily being Eurosceptic—strongly believed that the British population deserved a referendum on EU membership. At the time the new party was largely seen as a threat to the governing Conservative Party, which was experiencing high levels of mid-term unpopularity. In September 1995,
11845-543: 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
11960-472: The vote in the 194 constituencies that it contested. "It would be wrong wholly to dismiss the impact of the Referendum Party—which may be seen in two ways. First, it helped promote Europe on the political agenda and added to the pressure which eventuated in the three major parties promising a referendum on the specific issue of EMU membership. Second, although the party had no effect on the outcome of
12075-555: The vote putting it in 5th place. Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views in Cyprus are the Progressive Party of Working People and ELAM . Superstate A superstate is defined as "a large and powerful state formed when several smaller countries unite", or "A large and powerful state formed from a federation or union of nations", or "a hybrid form of polity that combines features of ancient empires and modern states." This
12190-521: 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 ,
12305-488: The wider pronouncements of the party became increasingly Eurosceptic as time went on. In its first year, the Referendum Party had little established organisation and largely remained a concept with limited concrete presence. Goldsmith's finances had allowed its appearance to be accompanied with mass publicity but it lacked the standard machinery of a political party, such as a mass membership or politically experienced personnel. To counter this problem, Goldsmith sought to create
12420-582: Was also critical of the EU's signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , believing that global free trade would damage both the EU's economy and his own business interests. Goldsmith had prior political experience, having been elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in France as part of the Eurosceptic Movement for France coalition in June 1994 . Although his father had been
12535-454: 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
12650-420: Was deemed necessary to ensure efficiency in its campaign. Rather than having members who paid a joining fee, the Referendum Party had "supporters" who could voluntarily donate money if they wished. By February 1997, the party claimed that it had 160,000 registered supporters, although some of these individuals had only requested information about it and had not actively registered as "supporters". The party issued
12765-608: 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
12880-480: Was increasingly unpopular among the British population. Various British newspapers, among them The Sun , The Daily Telegraph and The Times , had adopted a consistently Eurosceptic position. Opinion polls suggested growing opposition to aspects of the EU in the UK. More widely, the acceleration of the EU's integration process had resulted in the growth of Eurosceptic parties across many of its member states. The Anglo-French businessman James Goldsmith announced
12995-478: Was often mocked for its "unrealistic ambiguity", and some journalists referred to Goldsmith's venture as the "Referendum Only Party". Goldsmith did not position the party as explicitly opposed to the EU, instead stating that it was "wholly agnostic" about EU membership and just wanted to secure a referendum on the issue. The wording of the party's main question led one group of political scientists to note that it "clearly revealed Goldsmith's Eurosceptic colours" and that
13110-463: Was running high in the UK, and the question of the country's ongoing membership of the EU was a topic of regular discussion in the media. Much of this press coverage took a negative stance toward the EU, with mainstream newspapers like the Daily Mail , The Daily Telegraph and The Times promoting Eurosceptic sentiment. Such debates were influenced by the UK's recent signing of the Maastricht Treaty and
13225-453: 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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