A Critical Assessment of a Eurosceptic Party Group on European Integration: A Case Study of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group A Critical Assessment of a Eurosceptic Party Group on European Integration: A Case Study of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group Sertan Akbaba İcadiye Mah. Hacıbkkal Sok. Palmiye Apt. No. 19/1, Üsküdar/İstanbul, Turkey E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract: The article explores Euroscepticism and the way it is utilized within the politics of Europe, analyzed upon evidence from a Eurosceptic Euro-party located in the European Parliament, namely the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR). The aim of this article is to clarify that the selected party disproves the argument of EU- criticism being an unfavourable condition, and, more importantly, its contribution to the political contestation in the EU. For such an assessment, a survey of the party manifesto, party working documents, as well as the discourses of the Member of the European Parliament (MEPs) will be analyzed, and the concept of Euroscepticism will be once again in the centre of this analysis. This argument is evaluated based on the transnational-level analysis of the aforementioned party, focusing primarily on three specific issues—the democratic deficit, the issue of sovereignty and anti-immigration rhetoric. Keywords: European Conservatives and Reformists, European integration, European Parliament, Euroscepticism, party politics doi:Baltic 10.2478/bjes-2014-0006 Journal of European Studies Baltic Journal of European Studies 97 TallinnTallinn University University of of Technology Technology (ISSN (ISSN 2228-0588), 2228-0588), Vol. Vol. 4, 4, No. No. 1 1 (16) (16) Sertan Akbaba 1.