Post-Bailout Southern Europe: More or Less Eurosceptic?

After the 1980s Southern Enlargement of the European Community, the European South was traditionally seen as a region that was supportive of European integration. This picture changed with the eurozone crisis, in which the South European eurozone members found themselves on the front line. During this period in these countries, European integration became associated with economic austerity, curtailed democracy and reduced sovereignty. This impacted negatively on popular support for the EU and positively on electoral support for eurosceptic political parties. But in 2018 the last South European state exited its bailout and many have assumed the region is entering a new era. This paper investigates to what extent this is actually so, with regard to the particular case of euroscepticism. It seeks to determine whether there is a continuation or even strengthening of the trend towards increased euroscepticism noted in this region during the crisis period or whether there has been a return to a more traditional pro-Europeanism. The paper examines both mass attitudes, using Eurobarometer data, and electoral trends of support for eurosceptic parties, including the outcome of the 2019 Euroelections in the countries of Southern Europe.