^aDepartment of Political Science, Louisiana State University, 240 Stubbs Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. E-mail: lray2@lsu.edu

Abstract

This paper asks where Euroskepticism can be found in the party systems of the European Union. The literature suggests that anti-European parties are generally parties of the opposition, on the ideological fringes, or relatively small. A cross-national analysis of party positions confirms that Euroskepticism is primarily a fringe phenomenon, concentrated on the ideological extremes and among opposition parties. The results suggest that the post-Maastricht decline in public support for the EU has not led to a general adoption of Euroskeptic positions by the major governing parties of Europe. Important exceptions to this generalization do, however, exist. Euroskepticism is unusually strong among the center-right parties in the UK, France, and Poland. Given that decisions in the EU are often made by procedures that permit single states, or fairly small coalitions, to block action, any introduction of Euroskepticism into the mainstream of any party system can have serious consequences for the entire union.