The Influence of Pre-Accession Status on Euroscepticism in EU Candidate Countries

ISSN： 1568-0258

Source： Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Vol.5, Iss.1, 2004-05, pp. : 29-60

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Despite some analytical efforts to bring together member and prospective member states into a single model of Euroscepticism (elaborated on by Taggart and Szczerbiak 2001), I argue that to a great extent Euroscepticism in candidate countries governs with its own logic. I contend that the distinction is due to the rather objective context of the status of candidate countries. Within this context, I observe several significant situational aspects that are broadly relevant to all candidate countries in different preaccession periods. The discussion of these situations gives us an understanding of the specific form of Euroscepticism in EU candidate countries. It should be mentioned that these situational aspects refer to the entire national discourse regarding membership, yet individual political actors might also internalise them.