Considering the rise of euroscepticism in France, especially in the eve of key events for the EU integration process, the article identifies the key actors promoting euroscepticism & the motivation behind their political action. The article tries to show that the main eurosceptical actors are opposition & marginal political parties with either left or right political orientation, & that the main motives for their political behavior are not to be found in their ideology, nor in a rational political competition, & not even in the French political tradition (and that is the reason why euroscepticism is considered only as a phenomenon). The motives for euroscepticism are found in the actors' drive towards short-term political goals with a help of populist rhetoric in order to discredit the EU project, but without an intention to offer counter proposals & long term political projects. The article analyses the results of the EU Parliament elections, the referendum for the EU Constitutional contract & discusses the electoral attitudes of certain political parties regarding their ideological orientation. The concluding remarks offer & explanation of the political parties motives for euroscepticism, an explanation of the social context where euroscepticism is accepted & a general analysis of the phenomenon. Adapted from the source document.
Hrvatski referendum o ulasku u EU pokazao je da je najveći dio hrvatskog biračkog tijela – euroravnodušan. Euroravnodušnost bila je preferirana opcija i za političku elitu, koja je – za razliku od biračkog tijela – unisono podržala članstvo Hrvatske u EU-u. Članak analizira uzroke euroravnodušnosti i euroskepticizma oslanjajući se na dosad provedena istraživanja. U drugom dijelu članak analizira moguće posljedice hrvatskog članstva u EU-u na smanjeni Zapadni Balkan. Te posljedice mogu biti ambivalentne, a konačan ishod ovisit će o faktorima kao što su: 1) stvarna privrženost EU-a politici daljnjeg proširenja, 2) daljnji razvoj krize u EU-u, 3) unutrašnja dinamika u svim zemljama kandidatima. Proširenje EU-a ovisit će i o sposobnosti političkih elita da ignoriraju javno mnijenje. Ujedinjenje Europe ostaje ideokratski projekt elita koji se ne temelji na ideji predstavljanja stvarnosti, nego transformacije te stvarnosti. No ignoriranje javnog mnijenja povećat će osjećaj demokratske nelegitimiranosti EU-a. Hrvatski referendum o članstvu u EU-u ponudio je neke instrumente kojima se politička elita poslužila kako bi marginalizirala rašireni euroskepticizam i suverenizam u široj javnosti. O sposobnosti ignoriranja i marginaliziranja suverenističke alternative ovisi i daljnje ponašanje Hrvatske – odnosno svake zemlje članice EU-a – unutar same Unije. ; The Croatian referendum on EU membership demonstrated that the Croatian electorate is highly indifferent towards the EU. The political elite too preferred EU-indifferentism to Euroscepticism. Unlike the largest segment of the electorate, the Croatian political elite is almost unanimously supportive of the EU membership for the country. The article analyses the main sources of Croatian EU-indifferentism and Euroscepticism. In addition, it discusses consequences of the outcome of the Croatian referendum to now reduced region of Western Balkans. Consequences of Croatian membership in the EU might be ambivalent, and will depend on factors such as: 1) EU's commitment to the policy of further enlargement (or the lack of this commitment), 2) development of political, economic and social crises in the EU, and 3) internal dynamics in candidate countries. The EU enlargement will also depend on the ability of political elites to ignore Euroscepticism in their own countries. Unification of Europe remains an ideocratic project led by political elites. It is not about representing reality as it is, but rather about changing it through thorough transformation of European societies. However, further ignoring of the electorate will result in an enhanced sense of democratic deficit and might further question the legitimacy of the EU. The Croatian EU referendum offered some instruments and lessons on how to marginalise Euroscepticism and nationalism in the general public. If it is to be a constructive member of the EU, Croatia will have to continue ignoring and marginalising nationalists and Eurosceptics. This is also the case with other EU member-states.
Autor razmatra politički profil Alternative za Njemačku kako bi pridonio razumijevanju njezine pojave u političkom životu Njemačke. Analizom izbornih programa provjerava njezin položaj na osi lijevo-desno te stavove o europskim integracijama, nacionalizmu i multikulturalizmu, te o ekonomskoj politici i demokraciji. Multivarijantnom regresijskom analizom ispituje prediktivnu snagu konfesionalnih, dobnih, obrazovnih, migracijskih i ekonomskih obilježja izbornih okruga u objašnjenju varijacije u postotku glasova. Istraživanjem biografskih obilježja članova vodstva stranke testira se pretpostavljena zajednička demografska i ideološka pozadina stranačke elite. Pokazalo se da Alternativa za Njemačku odudara od stavova drugih stranaka u gledanjima na Europsku uniju, nacionalizam, multikulturalizam i ekonomsku politiku, ali ne odskače značajno na osi lijevo-desno, kao ni prema stavovima o demokraciji. Za predikciju glasovanja za tu stranku najvažnijima su se pokazala regionalna (rascjep istok-zapad), dobna i ekonomska obilježja izbornih okruga. Biografska analiza stranačke elita otkriva visok postotak bivših članova njemačkih demokršćanskih stranaka, te prevlast starijih visokoobrazovanih muškaraca u njoj. ; This paper analyzes the political profile of the Alternative for Germany to contribute to the understanding of its emergence in the German political life. An analysis of electoral manifestos tests the party's left-right position, stances on European integration, nationalism, and multiculturalism as well as on economic policy and democracy. A multiple regression analysis examines the predictive power of religion, age, education, migration, and economic status as characteristics of electoral districts explaining the variation in the party's vote percentage. An assessment of biographies of the party's leadership tests the presumed common demographic and ideologic background of the party elite. The article shows that new party differs from other German parties regarding the EU, nationalism, and multiculturalism, and economic policy, yet does not represent an outlier on the left-right scale, nor in its stance on democracy. The study of predictors of the vote for the Alternative for Germany has shown that regional (East/West cleavage), age and economic characteristics of electoral districts hold most importance. The biographic analysis of the party elite reveals a high percentage of previous CDU/CSU members and a dominance of elderly, well-educated men.
In the text the author discusses the problem of the European identity -- which emerged in the earlier stage of the process of European integration -- from the perspective of the discourse theory. This approach was overlooked in the early stages of the development of the European studies, in which the economistic approach emphasizing only the economic benefits of the European integration prevailed; today, however, the European identity issue is one of the central questions, & the success of the process of the European integration depends on. The question of the European identity has for a long time been identified with the concept of "Europe's positive public image" appealing to the citizens & to the political communities involved in the process of the European integration. The question of the European identity was for the first time systematically elaborated on in an EC document -- the Copenhagen Declaration of 1973 -- & since then the debate on Europe's political & cultural identity has permanently been on the agenda, particularly of the Eurosceptic political movements & ideas. The author looks into the theory of identity from the perspective of the latest contributions, particularly from the perspective of modern social theories, & suggests that the European studies ought to take into consideration the dual nature of the identification, the discursive & the affective, as well as the symbolic & the libidinal. That is why the European studies have to work out how to thwart Euroscepticism & develop the strategies of countering the phenomena such as a lack of pervasive identifications of citizens with Europe. References. Adapted from the source document.
Pri analizi dvaju suprotstavljenih narativa povezanih s temom uspostave vojske Europske unije (EU) u europskom medijskom i političkom prostoru u ovome radu upotrebljava se teorija sekrutizacije te se temeljem analize diskursa i javnog mnijenja dokazuje da suprotstavljeni narativi ispunjavaju uvjete da ih prema definiciji Kopenhagenske škole svedemo pod pojam sekuritizacije. Prema autorima Kopenhagenske škole, sekuritizacija je govorni čin kojim provoditelj sekuritizacije do tada nepolitizirani odnosno politizirani predmet debate prikazuje kao egzistencijalnu prijetnju prema referentnom objektu koja zahtijeva hitne mjere. Prvi narativ koji rad analizira je neizvjesna sigurnosna situacija u Europi i oko nje koja bi mogla prerasti u egzistencijalnu prijetnju društvu Europske unije i europskom identitetu zbog nepostojanja vojske Unije. Drugi, tome oprečni narativ pak interpretira uspostavu vojske Europske unije kao egzistencijalnu prijetnju NATO savezu i suverenitetu država članica Unije. Rad postavlja pitanje je li sekuritizacija upotrebljiva poluga u nastojanju provođenja odnosno blokiranja čvršće intergracije EU na području obrane. Analizom diskursa glavnih aktera, provoditelja sekuritizacije i sigurnosnih strategija EU, Velike Britanije i Sjedinjenih Američkih Država te analizom prihvaćanja narativa od strane publike, rad zaključuje da su ti oba narativa činovi sekuritizacije. Prvi narativ, sekuritiziran od strane europskih federalista na čelu s predsjednikom Europske komisije Jean-Claudeom Junckerom, kao referentne objekte koji se pod hitno moraju zaštiti postavlja društvo EU i europski identitet. Egzistencijalna prijetnja referentnim objektima dolazi od ruske politike, ali i neizvjesne sigurnosne situacije u neposrednom susjedstvu EU-a. Ovaj narativ kao rješenje nameće uspostavu vojske EU-a. Drugi narativ, sekuritiziran od strane euroskeptika, NATO saveza te političkih elita Velike Britanije, SAD-a i Rusije, kao referentne objekte koji se pod hitno moraju zaštititi postavlja suverenitet država članica EU i opstanak NATO saveza koji se nalaze u egzistencijalnoj prijetnji od strane uspostave vojske Europske unije, čija bi uspostava oduzela nacionalne vojske tj. suverenitet država članica u području obrane, a postojanje NATO saveza učinilo izlišnim ; The thesis proves that around the establishment of the European Union army, we can infer two opposing narratives in European Union's media and political space and that both meet the conditions to be called a securitization. The first narrative (positive securitization) that the thesis analyses argues that the precarious the security situation in and around Europe could become an existential threat to the society of European Union (EU) and European identity because of the paucity of the EU army. The second narrative (negative securitization) that the thesis analyses interprets the establishment of the EU army as an existential threat to the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) and the sovereignty of EU member states. Securitization is defined through the Theory of Securitisation by the scientists belonging to Copenhagen School (Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde) as a speech act by which an actor (securitizing actor) presents a specific issue, until then only politicised in the political or public space, as an existential threat to the referent object that requires extraordinary measures. For a speech act to be an act of securitization and not just an attempt of securitisation, public (or a target group) needs to accept the speech as such. Thus, the Theory of Securitization affirms that the chosen narratives are acts of securitizations through discourse analysis and public opinion analysis. Elements of securitization are before mentioned securitization actor, referent object and public, as well as functional actors, which indirectly affect security decisions by lobbing or directing the securitization actors, and context, as a speech act cannot be an independent factor in the securitization process but is dependent on historical, political, societal, economic, geographic, and other variables. The principal difference between Theory of Securitisation and the mainstream security theories: Traditional Security Studies (TSS) and Critical Security Studies (CSS), is that Theory of Securitization is not concerned if the issue that a speech act wants to present as a security issue, really is a security issue, but how a speech act presents the issue as a security issue. Unlike the Theory of Securitisation, TSS is a realistic security theory that examines is the issue a real security threat while CSS is a constructive security theory that examines the reality of security threat. Both, TSS and CSS, analyze already present security threat, while Theory of Securitisation analyses the creation of the security threat. Positive securitisation, the precarious security situation in and around Europe that could become an existential threat to the society of the EU because of the paucity of the EU army, is securitised by European federalists headed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and HR/VP Federica Mogherini. Referent objects that are in urgent need of protection are the EU society and the European identity (values and principles) that are in the existential threat of Russia and uncertain security situation in the immediate neighbourhood of the EU. As a solution for the existential threat, securitising actors impose the establishment of the EU army. Functional actors of positive securitisation are stakeholders in the European defence industry who have a purely economic reason for the backing of positive securitisation, and European elite which advocates the federalisation of the European Union. The prime public, core target group, for the positive securitisation should be the Heads of 28 EU member states who make decisions concerning Common Security Defence Policy (CSDP). As the decisions concerning CSDP must be unanimous, and some member states, mostly United Kingdom (UK), steadily use the instrument of veto to block further development of the CSDP, the thesis assumes that the securitising actors of positive securitisation decided to expand the target group for their securitisation onto European Union society as a whole. Reasons behind the expansion of the target public, which thus makes the whole society of the European Union a the public is a pressure onto the Heads of EU member states since the citizens of the EU have a very favourable opinion about the further development of the CSDP and mostly positive opinion regarding the establishment of the EU army. Negative securitisation, which interprets the establishment of the EU army as an existential a threat to the NATO and the sovereignty of EU member states, is a complex form of securitisation. Instead of one securitising actor or one group of securitising actors with the same motive (European federalist with Juncker as champion in positive securitisation), negative securitisation is securitised by several securitising actors without the leading champion with sometimes the same and sometimes different motives: Eurosceptics, NATO, decision-makers in the United Kingdom, the United States (US) and Russia. Furthermore, negative securitisation accumulates the referent objects that are in urgent need of protection: the sovereignty of the EU member states and the survival of the NATO alliance. The only element of the negative securitisation that is unambiguous is the existential threat from the establishment of the EU army whose establishment would take away the national armies, i.e. the sovereignty of the EU member states and made the NATO alliance vulnerable. Hence, for the sake of simplicity of understanding the elements of negative securitisation and their synergy, the thesis uses the Classical Security Complex Theory (CSCT) for the proper consideration of the patterns of the security connections. Using discourse analysis of the speech acts and official documents the thesis shows how the decision-makers in the US (regardless of their political affiliation) securitise the establishment of the EU army as an existential threat to NATO and future of Atlantic security cooperation. Same is evident with the NATO as a securitising actor. The decision-makers in the UK (mostly conservatives) securitise the establishment of the EU army and further development of CSDP as an existential threat to the national sovereignty of EU member states. Russia too securitises the establishment of the EU army as an existential threat to the national sovereignty of EU member states but does the deed backstage financially supporting nationalist and Eurosceptic EU parties and via cyber-attacks and disinformation campaign. Functional actors of negative securitisation are stakeholders in the non-EU defence industry and other industries which prosper due to unstable global security situation, private military organisations, non-independent think thanks, etc. The public for the negative securitisation is the Eurosceptic part of the EU society, but the core target group are the citizens of the UK. Securitising actors of the negative securitisation narrowed the public of their securitisation for the same reason why the securitising actors of the positive securitisation broaden theirs – decisions concerning CSDP must be unanimous. Consequently, the securitising actors of the negative securitisation to be successful in their securitisation need to persuade only citizens of the UK that their narrative is correct. As already mentioned, the Theory of Securitisation analyses the creation of the security threat, so very important for the understanding of the results of discourse analysis is the context behind the construction of the securitisation. In the case of the securitisations analysed in the thesis, the contexts of both narratives have foundations in the conflict between neorealist and neoliberal doctrines in foreign politics, different security strategies of the countries, and change in a global security system, as well as historical, political, societal, economic, geographic and other variables. No EU member state can be a superpower on its own in today's world. This notion and aim to hinder the possibility of another armed conflict in Europe prompted the creation of the Union. After more than 60 years of enlargement and integration, the EU is an economic superpower. Nevertheless, to protect its economic superiority as well as to impose its doctrine in foreign politics and expand its multilateral security strategy, the EU needs to be and defence union. This idea is not a new one but exists and was attempted to be implemented from the beginning of the EU existence. The securitising actors of the positive securitisation believe that with the establishment of the EU army, the EU can keep the US hegemony in the global security system and the Russian renewal of bloc-system aspirations under control. Some securitising actors of the positive securitisation also believe that the further integration of the EU is necessary to prevent the disintegration. Above all, is the strong desire of the EU elite for the federation of the EU. Expectedly, not least because of the postulate of the security dilemma, the US and Russia are afraid of the military-strong EU which could change the current global security system, while the UK believes that with the strengthening of the EU its military and political strength will wane or disappear. As the UK is the EU member state and its citizens are the most Eurosceptic the public in the EU, both and the US and Russia focused most of their securitisation's efforts toward the UK's citizens. The US also uses the UK as a tool of disruption in the EU – it's right to veto decisions about the further development of CSDP, integration of the EU in the defence field and the establishment of the EU army. The thesis hypothesises that the two opposed narratives that the thesis considers to be securitisations have generated the status quo in the development of CSDP. Through the discourse analysis of speech acts and the official documents of securitising actors of both narratives as well as analysis of the acceptance of narratives by the audience (public opinion analysis), the thesis positively answers the research question: Is the securitisation theory usable the instrument in the effort to implement/block more effective EU integration?
Iako su očekivanja Hrvatske od članstva u Europskoj uniji bila velika, ona se za sada ne ostvaruju. Hrvatska tone prema dnu Europske unije. Prema bruto domaćem proizvodu po stanovniku Hrvatska je na predzadnjem mjestu Europske unije. Samo je Bugarska iza Hrvatske, ali ona posljednjih godina ima veće stope rasta od Hrvatske. Uzrok hrvatske gospodarske stagnacije nije članstvo u Europskoj uniji, nego pogreške nacionalne makroekonomske politike i potpuni nedostatak industrijske politike, kao temeljne gospodarske politike. Kod donošenja novih mjera ne analiziraju se pogreške starih mjera ni uzroci današnje stagnacije, tako da se Hrvatska vrti u "začaranom krugu" nekonzistentnih politika. Europska unija je također suočena s najvećim izazovima od njezina nastanka. Ne ostvaruje se njezin osnovni ekonomski cilj – ujednačen razvoj svih članica. Kriza u Grčkoj je zemlju značajno vratila unatrag i pojačala antieuropske osjećaje, Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo je na izlazu iz Europske unije, a u mnogim zemljama jačaju pokreti protiv Europske unije ili protiv njezinih pojedinih politika. Očito je da se dosadašnji koncept Europske unije istrošio. Promijenile su se ekonomske, tehnološke i političke okolnosti od njezina osnutka do danas, a na vidiku nema prijedloga za njezin budući razvoj u novim okolnostima. Globalni ekonomski i politički sustav kreiran na samom kraju Drugoga svjetskog rata se također počeo mijenjati. Sve su to okolnosti koje hrvatsku politiku stavljaju pred sve veće i složenije izazove. ; Although Croatian expectations from joining the European Union were high, so far they have not been met. Croatia is falling to the bottom of the European Union. According to gross domestic product per capita Croatia holds the second-last position in the European Union. Only Bulgaria is left behind, but not for long as it has been showing higher growth rates in recent years. The cause of Croatian economic stagnation is not its membership in the European Union, but the mistakes of national macroeconomic policy and the complete lack of industrial policy as a key economic policy. While enacting new measures, the mistakes of the old ones and the sources of stagnation are not analysed, making Croatia go into vicious circles of inconsistently crafted policies. The European Union has been facing some of its biggest challenges since its establishment. Its main economic objective, the convergence of Member States and their homogenised development, has not been achieved. The crisis in Greece has significantly downgraded the country and increased Euroscepticism, United Kingdom is ready to exit the European Union, and in many Member States anti-European Union movements or movements against specific European Union policies are on the rise. It is obvious that the existing concept of the European Union is no longer viable. There have been changes in the economic, technological and political sphere since its establishment and there are no specific suggestions as to its future development within the new context. The global economic and political system created after the Second World War has started changing as well. All these circumstances are bringing more considerable and more complex challenges to Croatian politics.
