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Beyond Party Politics: Opposition to the European Union in France and the UK, 1985-1999

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Beyond Party Politics: Opposition to the European Union in France and the UK, 1985-1999 View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OpenGrey Repository Beyond Party Politics: Opposition to the European Union in France and the UK, 1985-1999 Simon McDougall Usherwood (London School of Economics) Presented for examination for the degree of PhD in European Politics 1 Abstract Abstract The decade since the Maastricht treaty has seen numerous instances of opposition to the European Union across its member states. Despite this, focused and systematic research on opposition has been scarce, resulting in an incomplete understanding of this phenomenon. This thesis describes, analyses and explains organised opposition, using France and the UK between 1985 and 1999 as case studies. An institutionalist approach is used, relegating traditional socio-historical explanations to a secondary position. The hypotheses state that political events at the European level will drive the formation and development of opposition within a country, but interactions with the country's political and social structures will produce specific patterns. In particular, the country's institutional structure will have profound effects on this process, especially the relative ease of access and carrying capacities of formal political institutions. These factors are hypothesized to control the development of opposition both within and outside formal institutions. Over time anti- EU groups (be they parties or non-party groups) will increase in volume and profile, as they penetrate the system. In order to test this model, anti-EU groups are classified on the basis of their form, objectives and ideology. Institutions are shown to play an important role in group structure and strategy, while group formation is clearly driven by events at the European level. Finally, group volume and media profile have grown over time, although electoral success presents a much more ambivalent picture, reflecting the issue's low importance for the general public and highlighting the lack of a link between volume and influence. The thesis provides a testable model that can be used across Europe to explain national aggregate patterns of anti-EU opposition. The first-order nature of opposition also highlights the increasing importance of the EU in national polities and publics. 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents Title Page ....................................................................................................................1 Abstract.......................................................................................................................2 Table Of Contents ......................................................................................................3 List Of Tables .............................................................................................................6 List Of Figures............................................................................................................7 List Of Abbreviations ................................................................................................9 Acknowledgements...................................................................................................10 Introduction..............................................................................................................11 Why Look at this Subject?..................................................................................................12 What is the Subject of the Thesis?......................................................................................17 Hypotheses..........................................................................................................................24 Theoretical Approach and Methodology ............................................................................28 The Institutionalist Framework.................................................................................28 Case Studies – The Necessity of a Comparative Politics Approach.........................30 Timeframe as Consequence and Cause.....................................................................35 The Structure of the Thesis.................................................................................................37 1: Institutional Spaces In France And The UK.....................................................38 National Parliaments and Electoral Gateways....................................................................42 Other National Formal Institutional Spaces........................................................................46 Sub-National and Supranational Formal Institutional Spaces ............................................49 Informal Opposition............................................................................................................52 Institutional Spaces in France and the UK.........................................................................55 2: France And The UK In Europe, 1985-1999.......................................................60 The Evolving European System .........................................................................................61 European Policy in the UK and France ..............................................................................69 National Media and European Integration..........................................................................79 Public Opinion....................................................................................................................82 Anti-EU Groups..................................................................................................................91 Summary.............................................................................................................................98 3: Factors Of Group Formation ...........................................................................100 Why Group at all?.............................................................................................................102 3 Table of Contents Group Selection ................................................................................................................105 A Basic Taxonomy ...........................................................................................................108 Focus........................................................................................................................109 Type of Opposition ..................................................................................................113 Type of Group..........................................................................................................117 Ideology and Critique of Integration........................................................................121 Proximate Factors .............................................................................................................131 European Policy Events ..........................................................................................137 National European Policy Events ...........................................................................138 National Policy Events............................................................................................140 Group Evolution .....................................................................................................144 The Relationship of the Individual to the Group ..............................................................149 Summary...........................................................................................................................153 4: Group Strategies, Volume And Profile............................................................155 Strategies ..........................................................................................................................159 Party Groups ...........................................................................................................159 Intra-Party Groups ..................................................................................................165 Non-Party Groups...................................................................................................168 Volume and Profile...........................................................................................................181 Group Membership .................................................................................................181 Electoral Results .....................................................................................................185 Media Coverage......................................................................................................189 Summary...........................................................................................................................198 Conclusions .............................................................................................................201 Validating the Hypotheses................................................................................................203 Supporting Evidence for the Hypotheses................................................................203 Outstanding Issues ..................................................................................................211 Wider Implications ...........................................................................................................216 Implications for the Study of Opposition to the European Union ..........................216 Implications
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