Euroscepticism and the Europe of Nations and Freedom Alliance

While the Eurosceptic populist radical right remains divided among three European Parliament (EP) groups – the ECR, the EFDD and the ENF – recent years have seen greater co-operation than ever between such parties through the new EP group Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF). Created in June 2015, the ENF brings Eurosceptic radical right populists from the French Front National, the Dutch Party for Freedom, the Italian Northern League, the Flemish Vlaams Belang and the Austrian Freedom Party together in a single European Parliament group for the first time. However, to what degree is Euroscepticism the driver of this new alliance? After all, although radical right populists tend to be the most Eurosceptic parties in Western European member states, their positions on European integration have never been uniform, static or equally salient compared to one another. Based on an analysis of party position and manifesto data, EP voting records, public survey material and interviews with key figures from the parties, this paper will examine the extent to which it is Euroscepticism that underpins the ENF alliance formation as opposed to other policy and strategic political factors.