Redefining Euroscepticism Has the Netherlands become more Eurosceptic since 2002?

Abstract

Redefi ning the understanding of Euroscepticism. Th e current categorisations of party Euroscepticism are insuffi cient in qualifying the actual positioning of parties regarding the diff erent dimensions of the European Union. A more refi ned approach, looking at a policyspecifi c level, is presented that gives a better understanding of the actual position of political parties concerning the EU, and areas which are taboos for these parties to cooperate or, conversely, not to cooperate. Th is fi ne-grained analysis also allows the tracing of changes in the positioning of these parties or government over time. In order to substantiate this, a qualitative content analysis of the party manifestos of the political parties in the Netherlands over the period 2002-2017 is conducted.