Description
Book SynopsisAn 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 membershipis 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.
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Euro-skepticism and "Europe" Chapter 2 Europe Chapter 3 Obstinate or Obsolete?: France, European Integration, and the Fate of the Nation-State Chapter 4 The Babel Express: Relations with the European Community, 1987-1990 Chapter 5 Speech at the College of Europe, Bruges, 20 September 1988 Chapter 6 Why the Norwegians Said No Chapter 7 Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War Chapter 8 The Case against "Europe" Chapter 9 Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French National Front, and "Europe" Chapter 10 Europe: Escaping the Trap Chapter 11 Which France for Which Europe? Chapter 12 EU Ostracism of Austria Chapter 13 The Haider Phenomenon Chapter 14 Diary of a Trip to Vienna: Jorg Haider's Austria Chapter 15 The Euro: The Engine that Couldn't Chapter 16 Democratic Values and the Currency Chapter 17 The Degeneration of EMU Chapter 18 Europe: The Grand Illusion Chapter 19 "Europe" and the "Anglosphere" Chapter 20 Conclusion: Expansive, Fractious, but Not Yet Fearsome
