Different Varieties of Euroscepticism? Conceptualizing and Explaining Euroscepticism in Western European Non-Member States

Since the late 1990s, much scholarly work has been done in the field of Euroscepticism in terms of mapping and conceptualizing different types of opposition to the process of European integration. But even though studies examining Euroscepticism in the EU are plentiful, the lack of insight into different types of Euroscepticism in non-Member States is striking: there is very little research which considers the extent to which there are different varieties of Euroscepticism in the European states that have chosen non-membership of the Union. What is Euroscepticism in these countries, and why are the Icelanders, Norwegians and Swiss so Eurosceptic? The article looks at how Euroscepticism plays out in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. It examines what Euroscepticism is and why it occurs in these countries, using a framework for analyzing Euroscepticism based on the concepts of economic, political, post-materialist value-based, right-wing value-based, cultural and rural society Euroscepticism.