The rise of nationalism in Europe and its relation to Euroscepticism in Germany and Austria

This research is about the relation between nationalism and Euroscepticism. Within this relation, the case study focuses on identity and the feelings citizens have for one specific European institution: the European Parliament. The research question is: What is the influence of identity feelings on the image European citizens have of the European Parliament? Identity feelings are explained by having an exclusive national identity and voting for right-wing parties. The cases of this study are Germany and Austria, from 2013 onwards. Respectively the AfD in Germany and the FPÖ in Austria are the prominent right-wing extremist parties in these countries. In the research, there is a trend visible between having an exclusive national identity and having negative feelings to the European Parliament. However, there is no correlation with the strength of right-wing extremist parties. In general, when these two cases are juxtaposed, the conclusion can be made that an exclusive national identity correlates with a negative image of the European Parliament. However, it is not clear where these feelings come from and why they relate to this negative image.