Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

An Exceptional Case? Party and Popular Euroscepticism in Greece, 1959–2009

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 16; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13608746.2010.538960

1743-9612

Susannah Verney,

European Politics and Security

Abstract The first diachronic study of Greek opposition to European integration reveals a story of surge, decline and limited renewal. With a time frame of the past 50 years, the article identifies key turning points and examines the changing pattern of party stands on the European Community and European Union, the extent to which the Greek case conforms to expectations about Eurosceptic parties' ideological affiliation and status as protest parties, and the Eurosceptic parties' policy impact. Investigating trends in mass attitudes, it finds a relative 'goodness of fit' between public opinion and electoral support for Eurosceptic parties. Keywords: European IntegrationPolitical PartiesPublic OpinionPASOKKKELAOS Notes [1] On the 1960s Eurosceptic left, see Pateras (1984, chapters 2, 4) and 'Syrianos' (1978 Syrianos, M. (1978) 'Oι πoλιτικϵ´ς δυνα´μϵις και η Συμϕωνι´α Συ´νδϵσης τoυ 1962' [The political forces and the Association Agreement of 1962], in H ′Eνταξη´ μας στην EOK [Our Accession to the EEC], ed. S. 'Karpathiotis', Themelio, Athens, pp. 59–62. [Google Scholar]). On the Eurosceptic communists and socialists in the 1970s, see Valinakis (1981 Valinakis, I. (1981) 'La strategie de la Grèce en vue de l'adhesion à la CEE, 1974–1981', these pour le doctorate de 3ème cycle en science politique, Université de Paris I. [Google Scholar], pp. 148–159), Moschonas (1982 Moschonas, A. (1982) 'A disputed partnership: the political debate on the Greek accession to the European Community', PhD thesis, Queen's University, Kingston. [Google Scholar], chapters 7, 8) and Verney 1994 Verney, S. (1994) 'Panacea or plague: Greek political parties and accession to the European Community, 1974–1979', PhD thesis, King's College, London. [Google Scholar] (chapters 7, 8). On the socialists' 1980s shift away from Euroscepticism, see Featherstone (1988 Featherstone, K. 1988. Socialist Parties and European Integration: A Comparative History, Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Google Scholar], chapter 7; 1989 Featherstone, K. 1989. "Socialist parties in Southern Europe and the enlarged European Community". In Southern European Socialism: Parties, Elections and the Challenge of Government, Edited by: Gallagher, T. and Williams, A. 247–270. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Google Scholar]), Verney (1993 Verney, S. 1993. "From the "special relationship" to Europeanism: PASOK and the European Community, 1981–89". In Greece, 1981–89: The Populist Decade, Edited by: Clogg, R. 131–153. Basingstoke: Macmillan. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 1996 Verney, S. 1996. "The Greek socialists". In Political Parties and the European Union, Edited by: Gaffney, J. 170–188. London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]) and Kazakos (1992 Kazakos, P. 1992. "Socialist attitudes towards European integration in the 1980s". In The Greek Socialist Experiment: Papandreou's Greece 1981–1989, Edited by: Kariotis, T. 257–278. New York: Pella. [Google Scholar]). For the more recent period, see Charalambous (2008 Charalambous, G. (2008) 'The Europeanisation of the Greek, Cypriot and Italian communist parties: a comparative study in party tactics', PhD thesis, University of Manchester. [Google Scholar], chapter 4) on the communist party, Tsakatika (2009 Tsakatika, M. 2009. Aπó τo «κριτικó ναι´» στo ϕιλϵυρωπαïκó «óχι»: Tι ϵ´χϵι αλλα´ξϵι στoν ϵυρωπαïκó πρoσανατoλισμó τoυ Συνασπισμo?. Diethnis kai Evropaiki Politiki, : 143–161. [From the 'critical yes' to the pro-European no: what has changed in the European orientation of Synaspismos] [Google Scholar]) on the post-1992 left coalition and Dunphy (2004 Dunphy, R. 2004. Contesting Capitalism? Left Parties and European Integration, Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Google Scholar], pp. 103–112) on both. On the Euroscepticism of the post-2000 populist right, see Vasilopoulou (forthcoming, chapter 6 Vasilopoulou, S. (forthcoming) 'Varieties of Euroscepticism: mapping and explaining positions on European integration within the European radical right', PhD thesis, London School of Economics. [Google Scholar]). [2] A notable exception is Vernardakis (2007 Vernardakis, C. (2007) 'Eυρωπαïσμóς και Eυρωσκϵπτικισμóς στην Eλλα´δα: ιδϵoλoγικϵ´ς διαστα´σϵις και πoλιτικϵ´ς ϵκπρoσωπη´σϵις' [Europeanism and Euroscepticism in Greece: ideological dimensions and political representations], in H Koινη´ Γνω´μη στην Eλλα´δα 2005–2006 [Public Opinion in Greece 2005–2006], Savvalas, Athens. [Google Scholar]), who examines popular Euroscepticism in 1995–2005. [3] For those interested in Greek politics, the parties concerned were the National Radical Union (Eθνικη´ Pιζoσπαστικη´ ′Eνωσης), the Centre Union (′Eνωση Kϵ´ντρoυ) and the Progressive Party (Kóμμα Πρooδϵυτικω´ν). [4] The far right party was the National Camp (Eθνικη´ Παρα´ταξη). [5] The minor pro-European parties of the left were EDA, now reconstituted as a broad left party independent of the communists, and the KKE-Es (KKE-Eσωτϵρικoυ´—Greek Communist Party of the Interior). [6] I have written in more detail on the 1970s EC policy of both KKE and PASOK in Verney (1994 Verney, S. (1994) 'Panacea or plague: Greek political parties and accession to the European Community, 1974–1979', PhD thesis, King's College, London. [Google Scholar], chapters 7, 8). [7] For more on post-dictatorship anti-Westernism, see Dimitras (1985 Dimitras, P. 1985. Greece: a new danger. Foreign Policy, : 134–150. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). [8] The full archive of Standard Eurobarometer surveys is available online at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb_arch_en.htm [9] The six-party European Parliament delegation elected on the same day included one MEP from the centrist KODISO (Kóμμα Δημoκρατικoυ´ Σoσιαλισμoυ´—Party of Democratic Socialism), one from the Eurocommunist KKE-Es and one from the pre-dictatorship Progressives, now resuscitated as a far right party. [10] I have written in more detail on PASOK's policy during this period in Verney (1993 Verney, S. 1993. "From the "special relationship" to Europeanism: PASOK and the European Community, 1981–89". In Greece, 1981–89: The Populist Decade, Edited by: Clogg, R. 131–153. Basingstoke: Macmillan. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; 1996 Verney, S. 1996. "The Greek socialists". In Political Parties and the European Union, Edited by: Gaffney, J. 170–188. London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]; 2006 Verney, S. (2006) 'H ϵυρωπαïκη´ ϵξϵ´λιξη τoυ Aνδρϵ´α Παπανδρϵ´oυ' [The European evolution of Andreas Papandreou], in O Aνδρϵ´ας Παπανδρϵ´oυ and η Eπoχη´ τoυ [Andreas Papandreou and His Era], ed. V. Panagiotopoulos, Ellinika Grammata, Athens, vol. 2, pp. 175–202. [Google Scholar]). [11] DI.ANA (Δημoκρατικη´ Aνανϵ´ωση—Democratic Renewal), represented in parliament in 1985–89. [12] EPEN (Eθνικη Πoλιτικη´ ′Eνωσις—National Political Union) won one European Parliament seat in 1984. [13] For more on the policy of the first-term PASOK government towards the deepening of integration, see Ioakeimidis (1987 Ioakeimidis, P. 1987. O Mϵτασχηματισμóς της EOK: Aπó την ′Eντoλη στην Eνιαι´α Eυρωπαïκη´ Πρα´ξη, [The Transformation of the EEC: From the Mandate to the Single European Act] Athens: Papazissis. [Google Scholar]); for its stance in EPC, see Valinakis (1987 Valinakis, Y. (1987) 'H ϵλληνικη´ συμμϵτoχη´ στην EΠΣ' [Greek participation in EPC], in H Eλλα´δα στην Eυρωπαïκη´ Koινóτητα: H Πρω´τη Πϵνταϵτι´α [Greece in the European Community: The First Five Years), eds P. Kazakos & K. Stephanou, Sakkoulas, Athens, pp. 311–327. [Google Scholar]) and Christodoulidis (1988 Christodoulidis, T. 1988. "Greece and European political cooperation: the intractable partner". In Greece Under Socialism: A NATO Ally Adrift, Edited by: Stavrou, N. and Aristide, D. 281–304. New York: Caratzas. [Google Scholar]). [14] When the PASOK government in 1986 refused to sign a joint statement condemning Syria for attempting to blow up an Israeli airliner. [15] The exception was the attitude to West European unification—a question whose design, already referred to in the section on popular Euroscepticism pre-1981, was likely to produce a high proportion of pro-integration answers. [16] See the intervention by SYN MP, S. Danellis, in the Schengen ratification debate, 9 June 1997, available online at: http://www.hellenicparliament.gr [17] The 1992 declaration of independence by the then federal Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia aroused historic fears of Slav irredentism in an area claimed by all the new Balkan nation-states in the nineteenth century. The ensuing dispute over the ownership of the name of 'Macedonia', challenging symbols intrinsic to Greek national identity, has so far continued for 18 years, proving a major rallying point for Greek nationalism. [18] Specifically: spring and autumn 1996 (following the 'Imia' episode between Greece and Turkey during which, in the words of US Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Holbrooke, 'Europe slept') and spring 1999 (the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, which a majority in Greek society strongly opposed). [19] The exceptions were the autumn 1995 and spring 1996 surveys.