Heath, Matilda Mariasole (A.A. 2025/2026) The Rise of the Populist Radical Right in the European Union: Analysing the Effect on the European Parliament. Tesi di Laurea in European union law, Luiss Guido Carli, relatore Robert Schuetze, pp. 78. [Bachelor's Degree Thesis]

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Abstract/Index

In December 2024, French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen stated, "I am deeply Eurosceptic; the way the EU works is anti-democratic, anti-national and completely contrary to the sovereignty of nations."1 This blunt rejection from a leading figure of the Populist Radical Right (PRR) is more than mere rhetoric; it is a direct threat to the supranational architecture established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Le Pen's party had just received 31.3% of the French vote in the 2024 European Parliament (EP) elections – more than double the share of Macron's pro-European centrists2. Across the continent the picture was similar, with far-right parties gaining the largest share of the vote in seven EU member states. The Patriots for Europe (PfE), with strong aims to decentralise power from the EU and give sovereignty back to member states, became the third largest group in the European Parliament in 20243. And for the first time in the institution's history Europsceptic forces commanded roughly a quarter of all seats in EP. The Treaty of Rome was built on a specific vision: the free movement of persons across borders, the promotion of social justice, and the protection of fundamental rights. The agenda of many PRR parties include the restriction of free movement of persons, the introduction of border checks and a vision of the EU that is fundementally exclusionary in nature. The contemporary surge of populism seeks to dismantle the European Union as we know it, redefining its very identity. This thesis analyses the impact of the PRR on the EP, suggesting that there has been a transformation in their strategy. In the past, PRR parties in Europe have been defined by a prominent Eurosceptic characteristic, with parties fighting to leave the EU in order to regain their sovereignty. In recent years, particularly in the wake of Brexit, PRR parties have changed their tone to a softer stance on Eurosceptism, not aiming to leave the EU but reform it from within. The PRR are also often characterised through their opposition to globalisation; claiming to be defending the rights of the native working class against the cosmopolitan global elite. A hotly debated question across Europe is whether the PRR poses an existential threat to the existence of the EU. Through an analysis of populism, Eurosceptism and how the PRR have stategically transformed, this thesis will argue that whilst the PRR are changing the very identity of the European Project, they do not seek to entirely dismantle it. In order to investigate the rise of the PRR and its implications on the EP this thesis is organised in three distinct chapters, each providing a building block to show how the PRR has strategically transformed in line with other phenomena such as Eurosceptism. The first chapter focuses on the term populism, providing the theoretical framework necessary to understand the PRR. This chapter explores the varying definitions and approaches to populism, suggesting that whilst the concept has reached a general consensus there are still very distinct implications and impacts depending on the type populism utilsed. Chapter 2 focuses on the phenomenon of Eurosceptism; analysing the PRR’s complex and evolving relationship with it. This chapter maps out the historical transformation of Eurosceptism, analysing the move away from an era of permissive consensus towards one of constraining dissensus. The era of constraining dissensus – characterised by increased public contestation over increasingly politically salient European issues – posits that the EU has become a source of political conflict. In turn, this shows how the PRR uses politically salient issues to capture voters. Crucially, in order to show how the PRR have strategically transformed, Catherine De Vries “benchmark theory” will be utilised to illustrate how individuals evaluate Eurosceptism and European integration. Lastly, Chapter 3 focuses on the European Parliament (EP) as the primary arena of PRR representation. It examines the evolving cleavage structures within the EP, which have fundamentally tranformed EP elections from second-order contests into “increasingly politically salient events in their own right”4. Traditionally, political parties in the EP were divided along a left-right axis. However, over the last decade, this landscape has shifted, with parties dividing over Pro/Anti-EU and Pro/Anti-Globalisation matters. This chapter investigates this new transnational cleavage in which both the EU project and globalisation serve as sources of conflict. In doing so this chapter integrates insights from the first two chapters to demonstrate how the nature of the PRR’s opposition to the EU has evolved over time. This change became particularly evident following Brexit, which exposed the vulnerabilities associated with leaving the EU. However, this is also due to a recognition that the EU offers a buffer to larger external forces such as globalisation. The evolution of populist parties across Europe illustrates this trend. For instance, the Front National (FN) under Jean-Marie Le Pen, was openly anti-EU as a matter of core ideology and explicit in Frexit demands. In contrast, Rassemblement National (RN) under Marine Le Pen has shifted away from a direct defiant rejection of the EU yet still but rejects the EU as it is currently perceived – namely "distant and unknown institutions far removed from European citizens, along with powerful globalist forces, unelected bureaucrats, lobbies, and interest groups that disregard the voice of the majority.”5 To highlight this shift in the PRR focus – away from single issue EU matters towards external globalisation issues – the chapter assesses the neo-mercantilist arguments that PRR parties are increasingly using to position the EU as a shield against the forces of globalisation. Overall this chapter provides a sythnethesis of the two new logics that the PRR are utilising whilst dealing with politics that are characterised by the transnational cleavage. By the end of this thesis, through a comprehensive analysis of the PRR, I argue that a new and durable cleavage at the European level has emerged. This has fundamentally re-shaped European politics and the project of European integration, suggesting that EU issues have become so salient among political parties, that they have permeated the national political sphere.

References

Bibliografia: pp. 67 ss.

Thesis Type:	Bachelor's Degree Thesis
Institution:	Luiss Guido Carli
Degree Program:	Bachelor's Degree Programs > Bachelor's Degree Program in Politics: Philosophy and Economics (L-36)
Chair:	European union law
Thesis Supervisor:	Schuetze, Robert
Academic Year:	2025/2026
Session:	Summer
Deposited by:	Maria Teresa Nisticò
Date Deposited:	09 Oct 2026 15:10
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2026 15:10
URI:	https://tesi.luiss.it/id/eprint/46838

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