Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

National, Popular, or Neither? Sovereignty in the Rassemblement National’s Contestation of European Integration

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Sovereignty in Conflict

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics ((PSEUP))

Abstract

Far-right parties have been responsible for much of the politicization of sovereignty at the European level. However, the far right’s contestation of sovereignty presents a mixed picture of evolving positions and changing meanings associated with the term sovereignty. To study the dynamics of the far right’s contestation of sovereignty, this chapter presents a diachronic analysis of how the French Rassemblement National defined sovereignty in party programmes produced between 1978 and 2019. It shows how internal party composition and knowledge of the EU, domestic political competition, and transnational factors pertaining to the evolution in the shape of the EU and the international political context, prompted the RN to redefine its approach to the relationship between sovereignty and the EU, and shift from supporting ‘European autonomy’ in the 1970s and early 1980s to opposing the EU on grounds of national and popular sovereignty from the end of the 1980s onwards.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bale, T. (2003). Cinderella and her ugly sisters: The mainstream and extreme right in Europe’s bipolarising party systems. West European Politics, 26, 67–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borriello, A., & Brack, N. (2019). ‘I want my sovereignty back!’ A comparative analysis of the populist discourses of Podemos, the 5 Star Movement, the FN and UKIP during the economic and migration crises. Journal of European Integration, 41(7), 833–853. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2019.1665658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brack, N., Coman, R., & Crespy, A. (2019). Unpacking old and new conflicts of sovereignty in the European polity. Journal of European Integration, 41(7), 817–832. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2019.1665657

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budge, I., Robertson, D., & Hearl, D. (1987). Ideology, strategy and party change: Spatial analyses of post-war election programmes in 19 Democracies. In Ideology, strategy & party change. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camus, J.-Y. (1989). Origine et Formation du Front National. In N. Mayer & P. Perrineau (Eds.), Le Front National à découvert (pp. 17–36). Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canovan, M. (1999). Trust the people! Populism and the two faces of democracy. Political Studies, 67, 2–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, E. (2018). Right-wing extremism/radicalism: Reconstructing the concept. Journal of Political Ideologies, 23(2), 157–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2018.1451227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chazel, L. (2023). Left-wing populism and sovereignty: An analysis of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s discourse. In N. Brack, A. Crespy, R. Coman, & J. Rone (Eds.), Conflicts of sovereignty in Europe: Political claims and legal dilemmas in the 21st century.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crespy, A., & Rone, J. (2022). Conflicts of sovereignty over EU trade policy: A new constitutional settlement? Comparative European Politics, 20(3), 314–335. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-022-00272-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtin, D. (2014). Challenging executive dominance in European democracy. Modern Law Review, 77(1), 1–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dézé, A. (2015). Chapitre 1/La dédiabolisation. Une nouvelle stratégie? In Les faux-semblants du Front national (pp. 25–50). Presses de Sciences Po.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flood, C. (2002). Euroscepticism: A problematic concept. In UACES 32nd Annual Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (1979, May). Plateforme de l’Union Française Pour l’Europe des Patries. Le National, 8–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (1989a). Une France française, une Europe européenne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (1989b). Passeport pour la victoire. Front National.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (1991). Militer au front. Éditions Nationales.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (1993). 300 mesures pour la renaissance de la France. Editions Nationales.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (2002). Programme du Front National.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (2004). Programme pour les élections européennes de 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (2009). Programme ‘Europe’ du Front National: Leur Europe n’est pas la notre! Voila l’Europe que nous voulons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (2012). Notre Projet: Programme Politique du Front National.

    Google Scholar 

  • Front National. (2017). 144 engagements présidentiels.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gómez-Reino Cachafeiro, M. (2018). Nationalisms in the European arena: Trajectories of transnational party coordination. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodliffe, G. (2012). The resurgence of the radical right in France: From Boulangisme to the Front National. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halikiopoulou, D., Nanou, K., & Vasilopoulou, S. (2012). The paradox of nationalism: The common denominator of radical right and radical left euroscepticism. European Journal of Political Research, 51(4), 504–539. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2011.02050.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heinisch, R., McDonnell, D., & Werner, A. (2020a). Equivocal Euroscepticism: How populist radical right parties can have their EU cake and eat it. Journal of Common Market Studies, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13055

  • Heinisch, R., Werner, A., & Habersack, F. (2020b). Reclaiming national sovereignty: The case of the conservatives and the far right in Austria. In European Politics and Society, 21(2), 163–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2019.1632577

  • Herman, L. E., & Muldoon, J. B. (2019). Trumping the mainstream: The conquest of mainstream democratic politics by the populist radical right. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, L., & Marks, G. (2009). A postfunctionalist theory of European integration: From permissive consensus to constraining dissensus. British Journal of Political Science, 39(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123408000409

  • Ivaldi, G. (2016). A new course for the French radical right? The Front National and ‘de-demonisation.’ In T. Akkerman, S. L. de Lange, & M. Rooduijn (Eds.), Radical right-wing populist parties in Western Europe: Into the mainstream? (pp. 225–246). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juncker, J.-C. (2018). State of the Union 2018. The hour of European Sovereignty. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/news/state-union-2018-hour-european-sovereignty-2018-sep-12_en

  • Kalmo, H., & Skinner, Q. (2010). Introduction: A concept in fragments. In H. Kalmo & Q. Skinner (Eds.), Sovereignty in fragments: The past, present and future of a contested concept (pp. 1–25). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511675928.001

  • Le Pen, J.-M. (1984). Les Français d’abord. Carrère - Michel Lafon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Pen, J.-M. (1992). La resolution de Reims. La Lettre de Jean-Marie Le Pen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Pen, M. (2022). M la France: 22 mesures pour 2022.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorimer, M. (2021). What do they talk about when they talk about Europe? Euro-ambivalence in far right ideology. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(11), 2016–2033. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1807035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorimer, M. (2022). The rassemblement national and European integration. In F. Berti & J. Sondel-Cedarmas (Eds.), A critique of Europe. Nationalist, sovereignist and right-wing populist attitudes to the EU.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loughlin, M., & Tierney, S. (2018). The shibboleth of sovereignty. Modern Law Review, 81(6), 989–1016. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macron, E. (2018). Discours du Président de la République au Parlement européen à Strasbourg. https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2018/04/17/discours-du-president-de-la-republique-au-parlement-europeen-a-strasbourg

  • Marks, G., & Wilson, C. J. (2000). The past in the present: A cleavage theory of party response to European integration. British Journal of Political Science, 30(3), 433–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonnell, D., & Ondelli, S. (2020). The language of right-wing populist leaders: Not so simple. Perspectives on Politics, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1537592720002418

  • Mudde, C. (2007). Populist radical right parties in Europe. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9302.2009.00194.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pichon, O. (1989, June, second half). L’illusion du primat de l’économie ou l’Europe à l’envers. La Lettre de Jean-Marie Le Pen, 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirro, A. L. P., & van Kessel, S. (2017). United in opposition? The populist radical right’s EU-pessimism in times of crisis. Journal of European Integration, 39(4), 405–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2017.1281261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pytlas, B. (2020). Hijacking Europe: Counter‐European strategies and radical right mainstreaming during the humanitarian crisis debate 2015‐16. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 391643469, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13092

  • Rassemblement National. (2019). Pour une Europe des nations. Manifeste pour une nouvelle coopération en Europe: ‘L’Alliance Européenne des Nations’.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reungoat, E. (2015a). Mobilizing Europe in national competition: The case of the French front national. International Political Science Review, 36(3), 296–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512114568816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reungoat, E. (2015b). Le Front national et l’Union européenne: La radicalisation comme continuité. In S. Crépon, A. Dézé, & N. Mayer (Eds.), Les Faux-semblants du Front national (pp. 225–246). Presses de Sciences Po.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rovira Kaltwasser, C., Taggart, P. A., Ochoa Espejo, P., & Ostiguy, P. (2017). The Oxford handbook of populism (First edit). Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rydgren, J. (2007). The sociology of the radical right. Annual Review of Sociology, 33, 241–262. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.33.040406.131752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rydgren, J. (2018). The Oxford handbook of the radical right. Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. D. (1999). Myths and memories of the nation. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, B. (2008). The thin ideology of populism. Journal of Political Ideologies, 13(1), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569310701822289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stjernø, S. (2005). Solidarity in Europe: The history of an idea. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Hauwaert, S. M. (2014). Trans-national diffusion patterns and the future of far right party research: Independence vs. Interdependence. European Journal of Futures Research, 2(1), 54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40309-014-0054-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasilopoulou, S. (2018). Far right parties and Euroscepticism: Patterns of opposition. Rowman & Littlefield International.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Economics, London, UK

    Marta Lorimer

Authors
  1. Marta Lorimer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marta Lorimer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at CRASSH, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Julia Rone

  2. Cevipol & Institut d’études européennes, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Nathalie Brack

  3. Cevipol & Institut d’études européennes, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Ramona Coman

  4. Cevipol & Institut d’études européennes, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Amandine Crespy

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Lorimer, M. (2023). National, Popular, or Neither? Sovereignty in the Rassemblement National’s Contestation of European Integration. In: Rone, J., Brack, N., Coman, R., Crespy, A. (eds) Sovereignty in Conflict. Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27729-0_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation