ABSTRACT
One of the most contentious and debated changes in the field of European politics has been the ongoing electoral rise of radical right parties (RRPs). This development has been ubiquitous across European Union (EU) member states and beyond, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean and from the Benelux countries to the post-communist nations. On the surface, RRPs' changing discourse towards a 'hard' Eurosceptic position can be portrayed as a logical process in terms of their ideological profiles. Hainsworth underlines this point, stating that 'European integration serves to undermine constructs and values. This chapter explains the rationale for a shift by RRPs in a Euromondialist, hard Eurosceptic direction by focusing on some of the watershed moments in the history of European integration that have served as a strategic galvaniser for such parties. The shift towards a hard Eurosceptic, Euromondialist position by the French National Front (FN) was exacerbated by the watershed moment in the history of European integration, namely the economic 'crisis'.
