The 2014 EP Election and French Oppositions to the EU Since 1979: Evolution and Influence

Emmanuelle Reungoat (1)

1 CEPEL - Centre d'Etudes Politiques de l'Europe Latine

This chapter describes the diversity and evolution of oppositions to the European Union (EU) in France since the first EP election of 1979, while emphasizing and questioning the specificity of the 2014 European Parliament (EP) election. It explains how the European issue gained saliency, showing the normalization of EU criticism in the French political space and then its radicalization in 2014. The analysis reveals the weight of electoral rules in the shaping of the “eurosceptic” landscape, placing the 2014 success of the extreme-right National Front (FN) into that perspective. Assessing the effects of European integration on domestic political spaces, the chapter underlines how EP elections and the development of oppositions have contributed to reshaping the French domestic political arena while maintaining political conflicts there. Finally, in this perspective, the chapter questions the second-order model.

Mots clés: France; Extreme right; populism; radical left; europeanization; history of Europe; political parties; electoral rules

Domaines: Sociologie; Science politique; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Emmanuelle Reungoat. The 2014 EP Election and French Oppositions to the EU Since 1979: Evolution and Influence. Julie Hassing Nielsen; Mark N. Franklin. The Eurosceptic 2014 European Parliament Elections. Second Order or Second Rate ?, Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp.17-36, 2017, 978-1-137-58696-4 (ebook) 978-1-137-58695-7 (paper). ⟨10.1057/978-1-137-58696-4_2⟩. ⟨hal-02892624⟩