The dissertation is devoted to the study of the impact of Euroscepticism on the modern political process in the European Union.
The aim of the paper is to analyse the impact of Euroscepticism on modern political processes in the European Union, mainly in the implementation of its domestic, foreign and security policies.
The scientific novelty of the research results is that the paper is the first comprehensive Ukrainian political science study of the impact of Euroscepticism on internal political processes in the European Union and its foreign policy. The most important results of scientific research are next:
for the first time:
using the theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of Euroscepticism in the context of modern European Union policy, we defined a new approach to the study of Euroscepticism, which perceives the study of Eurosceptism’s impact on the EU’s domestic and foreign policies. Regarding the EU’s domestic policy, the attention is focused on determining the impact of Euroscepticism on EU institutions and the implementation of its common policies. On the EU’s foreign policy, the analysis is devoted to the impact of Euroscepticism on the implementation of the EU’s common foreign policy with a particular focus on the EU’s enlargement.
the analysis of the programs of Eurosceptic political parties, their activities and their leaders’ rhetoric help to determine the positions of the political parties of the EU member states regarding the key areas of European integration, such as the common market and trade, the economic and monetary unions, the Schengen area and migration, common foreign policy and defence, as well as membership in the EU. The obtained results showed that political parties that adhere to a more hard position on European integration, get less support among the citizens. Also, the study showed that a significant part of Eurosceptic political parties do not support the functioning of the eurozone, but exclude the possibility of leaving the EU.
Eurosceptics’ positions on the EU’s enlargement of the Western Balkans were determined. Furthermore, the party Euroscepticism of the Western Balkans and the level of support for EU integration by citizens of Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo were analysed. The study showed that the representatives of Eurosceptic parties in the European Parliament mostly do not support the reports of the European Commission regarding the Western Balkan states’ achievements on their way to
the EU, but their representation of Eurosceptic is not enough to influence the decision-making process. It was also established that the closer the candidate state is to the EU, the lower the level of support for EU integration is recorded among citizens. Besides, Euroscepticism has increased in the national parliaments of the Western Balkans states. To sum up, the Western Balkans’ integration is much more influenced by the implementation of European standards than criticism of opposition politicians.
the level of Euroscepticism in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are also identified. The outcomes show that Euroscepticism in these states should be compared with pro-Russian influence since Eurosceptic ideas are supported by pro-Russian parties and leaders. In Ukraine and Moldova, there is a decreasing level of Euroscepticism whereas the support of integration into the EU is growing. Furthermore, pro-European politicians are coming to power, which correlates with granting them the status of candidate states. In Georgia is recorded proRussian influence, which weakens the implementation of democratic reforms and strengthens the growth of Euroscepticism.
The theoretical and practical outcomes of the research lie in strengthening the work on the issue of Euroscepticism and the possibility of applying the obtained conclusions to continue studying the influence and role of Euroscepticism in European politics. Also, the results of the research can be used for teaching subjects related to the study of European studies in "Political Science", "International Relations, Public Communications and Regional Studies", "National Security", including such courses: "The European Union in International Relations", "Institutional system, politics, economy, EU law", "Political institutions and processes in the EU countries" and "Current problems of European integration". The results of the study can be used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Office of Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Ukraine's Integration into the European Union.
