Radical left-wing Euroscepticism in the 2014 elections: a cross-European comparison

Halikiopoulou, D. (2014) Radical left-wing Euroscepticism in the 2014 elections: a cross-European comparison. In: Is Europe afraid of Europe? An Assessment of the result of the 2014 European Elections. Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies / Karamanlis Foundation, Athens, pp. 112-126.

Abstract/Summary

This article examines the varied performance of radical left-wing Eurosceptic parties during the 2014 EP elections. While the performance of the radical right during this 'earthquake' election has been widely discussed, little attention has been paid to the radical left. The article examines the result comparatively, and identifies that: (1) across Europe, radical left-wing euroscepticism is limited to few countries, including Greece, Cyprus, France and Portugal; (2) the countries that have experienced the worst of the economic crisis did not experience a significant rise in far right-wing party support but did experience the rise of left-wing euroscepticism; (3) from this sample only Greece experienced the rise of both the radical right and radical left.