Euroscepticism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Euroscepticism has become a general term for opposition to the process of further European integration. It is not, however, a single ideology, and eurosceptics differ on both their vision of Europe and on the manner in which it is perceived to fail: thus some eurosceptics seek a different form of European Union whilst some seek the withdrawal of their own country from the EU and yet others seek the complete dissolution of the EU.
The term Eurosceptic originated in the United Kingdom, and at first referred to those within the Labour Party and Conservative Party who were sceptical of their parties’ official support for UK membership of the then European Economic Community. Since then, the meaning has expanded, to cover general opposition to the European Union, to some or all of its policies, to the introduction of the euro, and to any future pan-European entity in the form of a superstate, a federation, or a confederation. The term entered other European languages as a loan word or calque, for instance Europaskepsis in German.