The N-VA: Challenging Europeanism

• Authors: Mercier Stefan
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The European Parliamentary elections of May 2014 saw the strong emergence of more Eurosceptic and radical parties than ever before. In Belgium, these elections were overwhelmingly won by the Flemish separatist party: the Nieuw-Vlaams Alliantie (N-VA). The electoral victory triggered an anti-EU political fog around the N-VA. However, the Flemish separatists have a clear pro-European ideology. Subsequently, the article includes a brief analysis of the historical and socio-economic dynamics that led Belgium to have regionalism as the common political thread of its state structure. The article also assesses the political ambitions of the N-VA. It aims to demonstrate that the European Union is used by the N-VA, based on political and philosophical tensions, to intellectually and electorally normalise the Flemish nationalist project in Belgium and in the EU. These tensions present in other EU Member States could question or reinforce the existing political structures of the European Union.

Keywords

EN

European Parliament; Eurosceptism

• Publisher: Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych
• Journal: The Polish Quarterly of International Affairs
• Year: 2015
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 145-162

Contributors

author

Mercier Stefan