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109-699: Gauweiler is considered a Euro-sceptic and made a name with partly successful constitutional complaints against the euro bailout fund and the Lisbon Treaty . Gauweiler was born in Munich , Bavaria . He joined the CSU in 1968 and held an elected offices from 1972, first in the Munich City Council, and later in the Bavarian state parliament . In 1987, during Gauweiler’s time as secretary of state in

218-604: A common foreign and security policy in due time. The wording of this article is taken from the existing Treaty on European Union . The TCE was going to state explicitly that the EU had a legal personality . Prior to this, the treaties explicitly stated that the European Community , the European Coal and Steel Community and Euratom each had their own separate legal personality, but remained silent over whether

327-513: A Constitution for Europe was signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 by 53 senior political figures from the 25 member states of the European Union . In most cases heads of state designated plenipotentiaries to sign the treaty, but some presidents also signed on behalf of states which were republics. Most designated plenipotentiaries were prime ministers and foreign ministers. On 12 January 2005

436-666: A Constitution. Romano Prodi , the President of the European Commission , backed a draft text, termed the ' Penelope Project ', which contained a deeper integration of the countries and a clearer institutional model. After protracted negotiations in the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) during the Italian presidency, disputes arose over the proposed framework for qualified majority voting :

545-430: 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

654-736: 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

763-503: 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

872-542: 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

981-553: A priority the recognition of the Christian tradition in the Preamble" and noting that the list of signatories was not exhaustive as they hoped other countries would join their initiative. The Greek government likewise supported a reference to Christianity. The strongest opponents of any reference to Christianity were France and Belgium . Other countries opposing such a reference were Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, and Cyprus. Among other nations, Spain originally supported

1090-571: A referendum, a proposal which he had previously rejected. A further seven member states announced or had already announced that they would hold referendums on the Constitution, these being Denmark , France , Ireland , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Spain and Portugal . Spain was the first country to hold a referendum on the Constitution. On 20 February 2005, Spanish voters backed the treaty with 76% voting in favour to 24% against, on

1199-556: A so-called Grand Coalition with the SPD following the 2013 federal elections . In November 2013, Gauweiler was elected deputy chairman of the CSU, in what was widely considered a move to appease the eurosceptic elements within his party. He resigned the post and his seat in the Bundestag on 31 March 2015, about three months before his 65th birthday; he had previously been strongly criticized by CSU leader Horst Seehofer for voting against

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1308-478: 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

1417-643: A turnout of 43%. On 29 May 2005, the French people rejected the Constitution by a margin of 55% to 45% on a turnout of 69%. On 1 June, the Dutch people rejected the constitution by a margin of 61% to 39% on a turnout of 62%. Notwithstanding the rejection in France and the Netherlands, Luxembourg held a referendum on 10 July 2005 approving the Constitution by 57% to 43%. It was the last referendum to be held on

1526-411: 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

1635-626: 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

1744-479: 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

1853-473: Is a principle to which lip service only is paid and, in practice, the reach of the EU has been increasingly ambitious. Amongst European countries, the European Court of Justice has consistently ruled since 1964 that EU law has primacy over the laws of member states in the areas where member states allow it to legislate. National law that is incompatible with an agreement already made at European level

1962-465: 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

2071-609: 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

2180-489: Is already its informal title. The "General Affairs Council" would have been formally split from the "Foreign Affairs Council", which had informally held meetings separately since June 2002. The TCE proposed the formal recognition of a flag , an anthem and a motto for the Union, although none of them were new. The TCE would have reiterated several key principles of how the Union functions: The TCE would have specified that

2289-584: Is deemed to be 'disapplied' when questions arise in courts. This controversial and fundamental principle of European Community law was first recognised in the case of Van Gend en Loos in 1963 which was followed in Costa v. ENEL in 1964. The TCE would have maintained the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (articles III-353 et seq.). It would further have rendered the (at that point) non-binding Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding. Unlike

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2398-404: 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

2507-656: 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)

2616-577: 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,

2725-583: 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

2834-468: 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

2943-571: 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

3052-530: 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

3161-458: 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

3270-957: 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

3379-676: The EU to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights . As stated in Articles I-1 and I-2 , the Union is open to all European States that respect the member states' common values , namely: Member states also declare that the following principles prevail in their society: Some of these provisions would have been codified for the first time in the TCE. The aims of the EU were stated to be ( Article I-3 ): In its relations with

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3488-662: 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,

3597-671: The European Parliament voted a legally non-binding resolution in support of the Constitution by 500 votes in favour to 137 votes against, with 40 abstentions. Before an EU treaty can enter into force, it must be ratified by all member states. Ratification takes different forms in each country, depending on its traditions, constitutional arrangements and political processes. Most member states ratify EU treaties following parliamentary votes, while some — notably Ireland and Denmark — sometimes hold referendums, in Ireland's case where

3706-466: The European Union (EU). It would have replaced the existing European Union treaties with a single text, given legal force to the Charter of Fundamental Rights , and expanded qualified majority voting into policy areas which had previously been decided by unanimity among member states. The Treaty was signed on 29 October 2004 by representatives of the then 25 member states of the European Union . It

3815-597: 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

3924-897: 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:

4033-751: The Treaty of Lisbon , it incorporated the text of the Charter in the Treaty itself (see Part II of the TCE). This included various adjustments to the Charter as promulgated in 2000, including granting persuasive value to the Explanations to the Charter (see article II-112(7) and Declaration 12 to the TCE). This would continue to exist alongside the protection of fundamental rights as general principles of EU law (article (I-9(3) TCE). Further, article I-9(2) TCE required

4142-700: 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

4251-683: 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

4360-416: 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

4469-448: 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

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4578-502: The "wisdom" of Franz Josef Strauss and approvingly quoted his statement: "Whenever Germany and Russia had good relations, it was always good for Europe." On September 12, 2014, Gauweiler traveled to Moscow to open the "Year of Language and Literature in Russia and Germany" as chairman of the Bundestag subcommittee on foreign cultural and educational policy. During his visit, he criticized the sanctions policy against Russia. He said that it

4687-482: 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

4796-647: 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

4905-538: The British Government said that it did not have binding effect. Incorporation into TCE would have put its importance beyond doubt. The TCE made an effort to simplify jargon and reduce the number of EU legal instruments. However, it is a long document couched in technical terms, which proved unpopular when presented (for example) to French voters in their referendum on the TCE. The TCE unifies legal instruments across areas of policy (referred to as pillars of

5014-589: The CDU/CSU parliamentary group who expressed scepticism as to whether the Greek government under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras could be trusted to deliver on its reform pledges. Gauweiler showed an early understanding for Russia's territorial claims against Ukraine. In September 2014, Gauweiler referenced a letter from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to Boris Yeltsin in 1991, in which Solzhenitsyn referred to Novorossiya ("New Russia") and many other areas of Ukraine beyond

5123-674: The Commission or the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs.) The unanimous agreement of all member states would only be required for decisions on more sensitive issues, such as tax, social security, foreign policy and defence. The six-month rotating Presidency of the European Council would switch to a chair chosen by the heads of government, in office for 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years and renewable once. The role itself would remain administrative and non-executive, but rather than

5232-440: The Constitution, for all of the other member states that had proposed to hold referendums cancelled them. After the French and Dutch referendum results, European leaders decided to hold a "period of reflection" on what to do next. As part of this reflection period, a "group of wise men" was set up to consider possible courses of action. This group of high-level European politicians – former prime ministers, ministers and members of

5341-432: The Constitutional Treaty but, instead of repealing and replacing the existing treaties, simply amended them and abandoned the idea of a single codified constitution. Signed on 13 December 2007, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009. The drafting of the European Constitution began in a call for a new debate on the future of Europe, made at the Laeken European Council in December 2001. A European Convention

5450-442: The Dnieper River as historically never belonging to Ukraine. During the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, Gauweiler criticized the behavior of the German government towards Russia. He described demands for economic sanctions and increased troop presence as "saber rattling" and "dangerous posturing." The United States and the European Union had brought Germany "into a dangerous escalation of threats." According to Gauweiler,

5559-429: 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

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5668-550: 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

5777-469: The EU as new 'shared competences' the areas of territorial cohesion, energy, and space. These are areas where the EU may act alongside its individual member states. The EU has conferred upon it as new areas of 'supporting, coordinating or complementary action' the areas of tourism, sport, and administrative co-operation. Member states would have continued to co-operate in some areas of criminal judicial proceedings where they agree to do so, as at present. Under

5886-622: 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

5995-424: The EU is a union of member states, and that all its competences (areas of responsibility) are voluntarily conferred on it by its member states according to the principle of conferral . The EU would have no competences by right, and thus any areas of policy not explicitly specified in the Constitution would have remained the domain of the sovereign member states (notwithstanding the ‘flexibility clause'). According to

6104-541: 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,

6213-499: 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

6322-472: 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,

6431-425: The EU, or where the EU has ceased to act (though these are areas where member states may act both nationally and through the EU if they wish). Three new competences have been added to those in previous treaties. There are a number of areas where the EU may take only supporting, coordinating or complementary action . In these areas, member states do not confer any competences on the Union, but they agree to act through

6540-568: 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

6649-480: 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

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6758-443: The European Commission – first met on 30 September 2006 in Rome. On 4 June 2007, this group, known as the Amato Group , presented its report. They proposed to establish a new Inter-Governmental Conference with a view to writing a new treaty which would rewrite the Maastricht Treaty , amend the Treaty of Rome and give the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union a legally binding status. The new treaty would be based on

6867-424: The European Union in previous treaties). Specifically: Under the TCE, the role of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy would be amalgamated with the role of the Commissioner for External Relations . This would create a new Union Minister for Foreign Affairs who would also be a Vice President of the Commission. This individual would be responsible for co-ordinating foreign policy across

6976-429: The European Union itself had one. They did mandate the EU "to assert its identity on the international scene", and permitted the European Union to enter into treaties. Brsakoska-Bazerkoska, and Choutheete and Ndoura argue that the EU had an implicit legal personality prior to the Treaty of Lisbon; the latter treaty also contained an express statement that the EU had a legal personality. The TCE would have conferred upon

7085-402: 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

7194-417: 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

7303-401: 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 ,

7412-446: 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

7521-471: The German Bundestag . In 2009, he accompanied German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on what was the first visit to Iraq by a German foreign minister in 22 years. Along with fellow lawmakers including Monika Grütters , Luc Jochimsen and Claudia Roth , Gauweiler traveled to Iran in 2010 to meet with Ali Larijani , Manouchehr Mottaki and others; the trip was heavily criticized by international human rights organizations. In 2012, he argued that

7630-453: The German constitutional court block measures that he considers enhance the EU’s powers at the cost of national sovereignty. Although his legal cases have generally failed, he has gained support from conservative voters, including members of the eurosceptic AfD party. In 1992, Gauweiler described the Maastricht Treaty as a "totalitarian dream", and called its key component, a common currency by 1999, as "Esperanto money". In 2008, he challenged

7739-410: The German government's gold reserves held in the United States should be repatriated. Following the 2009 federal elections , Gauweiler was part of the CDU/CSU team in the negotiations with the FDP on a coalition agreement; he joined the working group on foreign affairs, defense and development policy, led by Franz Josef Jung and Werner Hoyer . Similarly, he participated in the negotiations on forming

7848-623: The German ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon , claiming that the treaty was unconstitutional. He launched a similar challenge to the European Constitution in 2005, but the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany made no ruling and a presidential signature was never given. In 2008, he challenged the Treaty of Lisbon before the constitutional court, saying that the proposed reforms of the EU would undermine

7957-598: The Presidency being held by a member state as at present, it would be held by an individual elected by and accountable to the Council. The six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of Ministers , which currently coincides with the Presidency of the European Council , would be changed to an 18-month rotating Presidency shared by a trio of member countries, in an attempt to provide more continuity. The exception would be

8066-532: The State Interior Ministry, Bavaria put into effect some of the stiffest AIDS regulations ordered anywhere in the world, including mandatory blood tests for prostitutes, drug addicts, prison inmates, applicants for civil-service jobs and some foreigners seeking residence in Bavaria. From 1990 to 1994 , Gauweiler served as Bavarian State Minister for Regional Development and Environment in

8175-443: The TCE, seven new areas of co-operation would have been added: The new solidarity clause of the TCE specifies that any member state which falls victim to a terrorist attack or other disaster will receive assistance from other member states, if it requests it. The type of assistance to be offered is not specified. Instead, the arrangements are to be decided by the Council of Ministers should the situation arise. Provision exists for

8284-453: The TCE, the EU may act (i.e. make laws) only where its member states agree unanimously that actions by individual countries would be insufficient. This is the principle of subsidiarity and is based on the legal and political principle that governmental decisions should be taken as close to the people as possible while still remaining effective. It is a main argument against claims that Europe limits national sovereignty , but critics say that it

8393-647: 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

8502-449: The Union in order to support their work at national level. Again, three new competences have been added to those from previous treaties. The TCE's flexibility clause allows the EU to act in areas not made explicit in the TCE, but only: This clause has been present in EU law since the original Treaty of Rome, which established the EEC in 1958. The EU is charged with defining and implementing

8611-413: The Union, representing the EU abroad in areas where member states agree to speak with one voice. More day-to-day decisions in the Council of Ministers would be to be taken by qualified majority voting , requiring a 55% majority of members of the Council representing a 65% majority of citizens. (The 55% is raised to 72% when the Council acts on its own initiative rather than on a legislative proposal from

8720-520: The West had ignored and constantly frustrated Russia after the fall of the Iron Curtain. In March 2014, Gauweiler stated on behalf of his party: "We are for partnership. We are for partnership with Kyiv, but Moscow belongs just as much to Europe and we will not allow European Russia to be excluded by Kyiv, by others. We are for cooperation with Russia." Gauweiler called for a return of German policy to

8829-550: 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%),

8938-580: The court's second senate that the ECB's program to save the European common currency was contrary to European Union law . The judges subsequently referred the case onward to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, a first for the German court. On 27 January 2015 Gauweiler voted against the Merkel government ’s proposal for a four-month extension of Greece's bailout; in doing so, joining 29 dissenters from

9047-414: The creation of a European Public Prosecutor 's Office, if all member states agree to it and if the European Parliament gives its consent. The TCE includes a copy of the Charter already agreed to by all EU member states. This is included in the Constitution so that EU institutions themselves are obliged to conform to the same standards of fundamental rights. At the time of the Charter's original agreement,

9156-467: 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

9265-527: The existing treaties (primarily the Treaty of Rome and the Treaty of Maastricht). These negotiations were completed by the end of the year. The new treaty, which had previously been referred to as the Reform Treaty , became the Lisbon Treaty on its signing in Lisbon on 13 December 2007. Under the TCE, the Council of the European Union would have been formally renamed the "Council of Ministers", which

9374-467: The extension of financial aid for Greece . After his resignation he was immediately invited to become "a top official", by one report, in the euro-skeptic Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party but he declined the invitation. The same report speculated that the resignation would cause Chancellor Angela Merkel more difficulty by removing a protector of her right political flank in the parliament. Over many years, Gauweiler has led several attempts to have

9483-402: 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

9592-684: The final text of the TCE was settled in June 2004 under the Irish presidency. Several countries urged that the preamble of the Constitution include a reference to Christianity . Among these were Italy , Lithuania , Malta , Poland , Portugal , the Czech Republic , and Slovakia , which in May 2004 sent a letter to the Irish Presidency, saying "the governments of those countries consider as

9701-433: The first and fourth parts of the Constitution, the rest of the Constitution's changes being achieved through amendments to the Treaty of Rome. In the June 2007 European summit meeting, member states agreed to abandon the constitution and to amend the existing treaties, which would remain in force. They also agreed a detailed mandate for a new intergovernmental conference to negotiate a new treaty containing such amendments to

9810-832: The government of Minister-President   Max Streibl . Most notably during that time, he demanded that the Party of Democratic Socialism and the German Communist Party be outlawed after German reunification . Gauweiler first became a member of the German Bundestag in the 2002 elections . From 2006, Gauweiler served as a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Foreign Cultural and Educational Policies of

9919-467: The inclusion of a reference to Christianity, but the incoming Zapatero government reversed the stance of its predecessor. Eventually the agreed-upon Constitution made no explicit references to Christianity, only mentioning the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe". This decision caused disappointment in the Vatican, but satisfaction from candidate state Turkey. The Treaty establishing

10028-868: The independence of the German Parliament and clash with the German Constitution. Gauweiler has also been among the most aggressive challengers of the European Central Bank 's efforts to rescue the Euro at the Constitutional Court. In 2011, together with a group of academics, he unsuccessfully asked the court to block the country’s participation in the bail-out packages for Greece and in the European Financial Stability Facility ,

10137-530: 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

10246-533: 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

10355-548: The predecessor of the European Stability Mechanism . In 2012, Gauweiler filed a complaint against the ESM and included opposition to a banking license for the bailout fund. Gauweiler claimed that the ECB's bond-buying program threatened Germany with unlimited losses, arguing that it is an additional ground to reject use of German tax revenue for the rescue fund. He managed to convince a majority of justices on

10464-422: 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 ,

10573-565: 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

10682-409: The treaty requires a constitutional amendment, for all amendments have to be approved by referendum. As a reaction to what was seen as the novel nature of the Constitution, many advocates and opponents of the Constitution argued that it should be subjected to referendums across the European Union. On 20 April 2004, the then British prime minister Tony Blair unexpectedly announced an intention to hold

10791-495: 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

10900-610: The vote putting it in 5th place. Parties with mainly Eurosceptic views in Cyprus are the Progressive Party of Working People and ELAM . European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe ( TCE ; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty ) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for

11009-609: 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 ,

11118-856: The wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . From 1996 to 2019, Gauweiler was a partner in the law firm Bub, Gauweiler & Partner in Munich. Among other high-profile cases, the firm represented Gauweiler’s friend and onetime media mogul Leo Kirch in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Deutsche Bank . Notable clients also included the Government of Qatar , Wirecard and M. M. Warburg & Co. In 2021, Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed that Gauweiler had been receiving consultancy fees amounting to more than eleven million euros by eurosceptic billionaire August von Finck during his time in parliament. Euroscepticism Euroscepticism , also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism ,

11227-433: The wider world the Union's objectives are: The EU has six exclusive competences , policy areas in which member states have agreed that they should act exclusively through the EU and not legislate at a national level. The list remains unchanged from the previous treaties: There are a number of shared competences . These are areas in which member states agree to act individually only where they have not already acted through

11336-461: Was a cowardly policy that was going in the wrong direction. Experiences in Iran and Iraq had shown that such punitive measures did not work. It was necessary to build bridges and talk to each other. "Russia belongs to Europe! Sanctions are the wrong way." In February 2023, Gauweiler was one of the initial signers of Manifest für Frieden , a petition calling for an end to military support to Ukraine in

11445-454: 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

11554-403: Was founded shortly afterward; this was chaired by former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and composed of two Members of Parliament (generally one from the governing majority and one from the opposition) of each Member State and applicant state, 16 MEPs, two members of the European Commission and a representative from each government. It met in public. Giscard d'Estaing proposed to draft

11663-550: 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

11772-535: Was later ratified by 18 member states, which included referendums endorsing it in Spain and Luxembourg. However, the rejection of the document by French and Dutch voters in May and June 2005 brought the ratification process to an end. Following a period of reflection, the Treaty of Lisbon was created to replace the Constitutional Treaty. This contained many of the changes that were originally placed in

11881-457: 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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