Editing Euroscepticism (section)

===Belgium===
According to [[Eurostat]], in the fall of 2018, 44% of Belgians stated that they did not trust the [[European Union]].<ref name=eurobarometer>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/STANDARD/yearFrom/1974/surveyKy/2142|title=Standard Eurobarometer 90|publisher=[[European Commission]]|access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref> The main Eurosceptic party in [[Belgium]] is the right-wing [[Vlaams Belang]] which is active in the [[Flemish people|Dutch-speaking]] part of Belgium, however the left-wing [[PTB-PVDA]] also opposes the EU on many issues, primarily austerity and social policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Realfonzo |first=Ugo |date=6 December 2023 |title=No 'Bexit' on the cards for Belgium, EU poll says |work=[[The Brussels Times]] |url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/826596/no-bexit-on-the-cards-for-belgium-eu-poll-says |url-status=live |access-date=6 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206171344/https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/826596/no-bexit-on-the-cards-for-belgium-eu-poll-says |archive-date=6 December 2023}}</ref> In the [[2014 European Parliament election in Belgium|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2014-results/en/country-results-be-2009.html|title=Result of the 2014 European election|publisher=European Parliament|access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> Despite the presence of Eurosceptic parties in Belgium, their weight is relatively low, as Belgium is predominantly [[Europeanist]].<ref name=eurobarometer/><ref name="WilfriedMartensCentreforEuropeanStudies">{{cite book|url=https://martenscentre.eu/publications/thorn-side-european-elites-new-euroscepticism|title=A Thorn in the side of European Elites:The new Euroscepticism|publisher=Wilfried Martens Centre|access-date=3 May 2019|archive-date=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503133923/https://martenscentre.eu/publications/thorn-side-european-elites-new-euroscepticism|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2019, Vlaams Belang stated in its program<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vlaamsbelang.org/programma/|title=Vlaams Belang program|website=Vlaams Belang|access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref> 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:
# loss of [[sovereignty]] (for instance on economic sovereignty or on the binding legal order);
# the financial cost of the [[European Union]];
# less competences for [[European Union]];
# leaving the [[euro]] (even though in 2019 the party has changed its line and now wants to reform the euro).<ref name="LouvainUniversity">{{cite web|url=https://dial.uclouvain.be/pr/boreal/object/boreal:187422|title=" L'Europe contre les peuples " : euroscepticisme et populisme dans le discours des partis politiques|publisher=Université de Louvain|access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> During the [[2019 European Parliament election in Belgium]], Vlaams Belang made substantial gains in both and polled in second place in Flemish region. At the beginning of 2019, the party was enrolled in the group of [[European Alliance of People and Nations]] in the [[European Parliament]].

The [[New Flemish Alliance]] (N-VA) 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 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 (political party)|Nation Movement]], 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 (Belgium)|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 (Belgium)|People's Party]], classified as right or extreme right. In its program<ref>{{cite web|url=https://partipopulaire.be/|title=Parti populaire|publisher=Parti populaire|access-date=13 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142653/https://partipopulaire.be/|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> for 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=471|title=Posted worker directive|publisher=European Commission|access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> 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 the [[European Court of Human Rights]]. It declares itself against the [[Global Compact for Migration]]. The last one is the {{ill|Parti libertarien|fr|Parti libertarien (Belgique)|vertical-align=sup}}. 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,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parti-libertarien.be/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/programme_PLIB.pdf|title=Program Libertarian Party|publisher=Libertarian Party|access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> Finally, 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ptb.be/une_europe_des_gens_pas_de_largent|title=Parti du travail de Belgique|publisher=Parti du travail de Belgique|access-date=13 May 2019|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502151807/https://www.ptb.be/une_europe_des_gens_pas_de_largent|url-status=dead}}</ref>