The Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) and its member institute from Slovakia, the Institute of European Studies and International Relations, Faculty of Social & Economic Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, in coordination with the European Parliament Office in Slovakia, organised an online event discussing Euroscepticism in Slovakia: its causes and history, impacts and effects, and recommendations on how to move forward. The discussion took place within the framework of the TEPSA Book “Euroscepticism and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals”, which can be ordered now.
The discussion featured contributions from:
Katarina BARLEY, EP Vice-President,
Robert SERMEK, Office of the EP in Slovakia, Head of the Office,
Paul SCHMIDT, Secretary General of the Austrian Society for European Politics in Vienna, co-Editor of the book,
Lucia MOKRÁ, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Comenius University and Chair of the Board of the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA),
Ol’ga GYÁRFÁŚOVÁ, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Comenius University.
The event took place on Thursday, September 24, 2020, 1:30PM
You can read the full agenda here.
The discussion was focused on the question of Euroscepticism, its presence in the Slovak public debate and in the electoral campaigns. The overall tendency visible in the Europe is also present in Slovakia and the dissatisfaction by Slovak citizens with the governance of the country led to an increased support of populist parties and rhetoric based on Euroscepticism. Euroscepticism in Slovakia, it emerged, is particularly linked to issues like migration and redistribution quotas, as well as climate change.
In order to tackle this problem, it was perceived as key that the member states contribute to a better understanding of EU policy making and its output at the national level – such multilevel communication may help to eliminate the misunderstandings or hinder the misuse of the European card by Eurosceptics.
The debate also touched upon the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The crisis was believed to have created new avenues for Eurosceptics, who have exploited the perception that the European Union was doing too little in response to this crisis.
This event was linked with the upcoming edition of the TEPSA Book “Euroscepticism and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals“, edited by Paul Schmidt, Michael Kaeding and Johannes Pollak. One of the book’s chapters focus on the topic of Euroscepticism in Slovakia. This chapter was authored by Lucia Mokrá, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Comenius University and Chair of the Board of the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA), and Ol’ga Gyárfáśová from the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Comenius University. Lucia Morká has also contributed to the TEPSA Explainer series on the same topic.
