Editing Euroscepticism (section)

==Terminology==
There can be considered to be several different types of Eurosceptic thought, which differ in 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.<ref name="Arato 162">{{cite book |title=Euroscepticism and European Integration |last=Arato |first = Krisztina |author2=Kaniok, Petr |publisher=CPI/PSRC |isbn=978-9537022204 |page = 162|year=2009 }}</ref>{{sfnp|Harmsen|Spiering| 2004 |p= 18}}<ref name="Gifford 2008 5">{{cite book |title=The Making of Eurosceptic Britain |last=Gifford |first=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0754670742 |page=5 }}</ref>{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=7}}<ref name="Lewis 2003 211">{{cite book |title=Pan-European Perspectives on Party Politics |last=Lewis |first=Paul G |author2=Webb, Paul D |year=2003 |publisher=Brill |isbn= 978-9004130142 |page=211}}</ref> At the same time, some scholars have said that there is no clear line between the presumed hard and soft Euroscepticism.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} [[Cas Mudde]] and Petr Kopecky have said that if the demarcation line 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.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Varieties of Euroscepticism:The Case of the European Extreme Right |author=Sofia Vasilopoulou}}</ref>

===Hard Euroscepticism===
According to Taggart and Szczerbiak, hard Euroscepticism, or anti-EU-ism,<ref name="Arato 162"/>{{sfnp|Harmsen|Spiering|2004 |p=18}}<ref name="Gifford 2008 5"/>{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=7}}<ref name="Lewis 2003 211"/> 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 the EU are tantamount to being opposed to the whole project of European integration as it is currently conceived".{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=7}} 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 the EU.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/brexit-party-nigel-farage-fails-to-form-political-group-in-european-parliament/|title=Brexit Party misses first deadline to form political group in European Parliament|date=26 June 2019|last=de La Baume|first=Maïa|newspaper=Politico|access-date=30 August 2023}}</ref>

Some hard Eurosceptics regard their position as pragmatic rather than in principle. Additionally, [[Tony Benn]], a left-wing [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] MP who fought against [[European integration]] in 1975 by opposing membership of the [[European Communities]] in [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|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 a part of their empire and I don't want that."<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0wFii8klNg| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/f0wFii8klNg| archive-date=11 December 2021 | url-status=live|author=Tony Benn|work=[[Oxford Union]]|title=European Union|date=25 March 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Radio Prague: Current Affairs|url=http://archiv.radio.cz/english/cur-affrs/31-5-99.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230601/http://archiv.radio.cz/english/cur-affrs/31-5-99.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 March 2016|access-date=28 July 2013}}</ref> [[François Asselineau]] of the French [[Popular Republican Union (2007)|Popular Republican Union]] has criticised the use of the term 'sceptic' to describe hard Eurosceptics, and would rather advocate the use of the term "Euro opponent".<ref name=UPR1>[[François Asselineau|Asselineau, François]]. [http://www.upr.fr/actualite/france-europe/europeens-convaincus-contre-eurosceptiques "« Européens convaincus » contre « Eurosceptiques » : Le retour de la Sainte Inquisition"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408033335/http://www.upr.fr/actualite/france-europe/europeens-convaincus-contre-eurosceptiques |date=8 April 2014 }}, ''[[Popular Republican Union (2007)|Popular Republican Union]]'', 16 December 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2013.</ref> 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 be modified only with a unanimous agreement of all the EU member states, something he considers impossible to achieve.<ref name=UPR2>{{cite news|author=Laurent De Boissieu|url=http://www.la-croix.com/Actualite/France/Presidentielle-Ces-petits-candidats-qui-veulent-se-faire-entendre-_EP_-2012-03-15-778791|title=Présidentielle: Ces "petits" candidats qui veulent se faire entendre|trans-title=Presidential election: These "small" candidates who want to be heard|language=fr|newspaper=La Croix|date=15 March 2012|access-date=9 March 2016}}</ref>

===Soft Euroscepticism===
'''Soft Euroscepticism''', also known as '''Eurorealism''', reflects 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 the EU's trajectory."

Both the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]], dominated by the right-wing Polish party [[Law and Justice]], and [[The Left in the European Parliament|The Left Group]], 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, 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 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."{{sfnp|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=8}}<ref name="Tagart Szcserbiak">{{cite book|first1=Paul|last1=Taggart|first2=Aleks|last2=Szczerbiak|url=https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=sei-working-paper-no-51.pdf&site=266|title=The Party Politics of Euroscepticism in EU Member and Candidate States|publisher=Sussex European Institute|page=7|year=2001|language= en|access-date=4 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hooghe|first1=Liesbet|last2=Marks|first2=Gary|date=1 July 2007|title=Sources of Euroscepticism|journal=Acta Politica|language=en|volume=42|issue=2|pages=119–127|doi=10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500192|s2cid=144256307|issn=1741-1416}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Leruth |first=Benjamin |title=The Routledge Handbook of Euroscepticism |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-367-50003-0 |editor-last=Leruth |editor-first=Benjamin |edition=1st |location=Abingdon, Oxfordshire |pages=391–392 |language=EN |editor-last2=Startin |editor-first2=Nicholas |editor-last3=Usherwood |editor-first3=Simon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Leruth |first=Benjamin |title=Euroscepticism as a Transnational and Pan-European Phenomenon |publisher=Routledge |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-138-59843-0 |editor-last=FitzGibbon |editor-first=John |edition=1st |location=Abingdon, Oxon |pages=50 |language=EN |editor-last2=Leruth |editor-first2=Benjamin |editor-last3=Startin |editor-first3=Nick}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Steven |first=Martin |title=The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5261-3914-6 |edition=1st |location=Manchester |pages=124 |language=EN}}</ref>

===Anti-Europeanism===
{{Main|Anti-Europeanism}}
While having some overlaps, Euroscepticism and [[anti-Europeanism]] are different. Euroscepticism is criticism of the [[European Union]] (EU) and [[European integration]]. Anti-Europeanism 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]],<ref name="ae2">[http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/2767/04_25.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Anti-Europeanism and Euroscepticism in the United States], Patrick Chamorel  No 25, EUI-RSCAS Working Papers from European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS) 2004</ref> such as the size of the [[welfare state]] in European countries,{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}<!-- This: <ref>Elsner (2005), McPherson (2003)</ref> is completely useless as a citation. Do it right or don't do it at all. --> and [[foreign policy]], such as European countries that did not support the US-led [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}<!-- This: <ref>Lexington (2007), Ash (2003)  Pipes (2006)</ref> is completely useless as a citation. Do it right or don't do it at all. -->

===Other terms===
{{anchor|Europhobia}}
Some scholars consider the gradual difference in terminology between hard and soft Euroscepticism inadequate to accommodate the large differences in terms of political agenda; ''hard Euroscepticism'' has also been referred to as ''Europhobia'' as opposed to mere ''Euroscepticism''.{{sfnp|Bertoncini|Koenig|2014 |pages=pages=6 ff}} Other alternative names for hard and soft Euroscepticism include ''withdrawalist'' and ''reformist'', respectively.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Sources Online Information Guide: Euroscepticism |work=Cardiff University Press |page=3 |url=http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/resources/edc/Euroscepticism.pdf |date=April 2015 |access-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923221522/http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/resources/edc/Euroscepticism.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>