ABSTRACT
It is commonly argued that European integration is a project of elites, but a project challenged by the masses whenever they find the opportunity to express themselves. The negative results of the Dutch and French referenda on the Constitutional Treaty of the European Union (EU) in 2005 and the similar result of the Irish referendum on the Reform Treaty in 2008 are cited as examples of this discrepancy between the elites and the masses. But what do European national elites, namely the decision makers in individual EU member states, believe about European integration? While it is probably easy to register and evaluate the attitudes of EU elites, as expressed in the official statements of Commissioners and other European Commission (EC) officials, as well as the public speeches of members of the European Parliament (EP), the opinions of national political elites, and particularly of politicians whose parties are not in power, are neither well known nor adequately researched. While a general trend of Euroscepticism is widely perceived among European publics, the specific opinions of European national elites and the differences and similarities among them on the basis of country origin and political party affiliation are not as well known. The attitudes of members of national parliaments (MPs) are a case in point.
