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Brussels and Populism' in European Legacy: towards new paradigms in the journal The European Legacy , Volume 10, Number 2, April 2005, pp. 217-231(15)

ABSTRACT:

The rise of the Extreme Right Parties (ERP) in recent parliamentary elections obstructs the European integration process. The relation between Brussels and Populism lies at the core of the intertwined debates on the integration of Europe and extra-European immigration. The two camps employ identity politics to categorise each other as intrinsically different from one and another. Firstly, populism is used amongst the EU elite to disclaim populist rhetoric elsewhere – populism is excluded from “real politics”. Secondly, a popular identity is articulated among the ERP parties, of which their prime objective is to protect ‘the people’ as opposed to ‘the elite’. As a result, the consensual elite and the so-called populists stand in a mutual dependency relation to each other, which correspond to a trend towards a new Europe that fears its new citizens.

KEYWORDS: populism, European Integration, identity politics, consensual elite, ERP-parties, immigration.

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