National Rally's European Policy Change In-Between Years 2011-2019

Euroscepticism is a phenomenon of recent years and one of the biggest challenges for the European Union. The successful Brexit referendum has reinforced these tendencies. Marine Le Pen is one of the most vocal critics of European integration on the continent. However, in the last ten years, the National Rally has markedly rethought its position on fundamental issues of European politics. The idea of leaving the European Union has been definitively abandoned, and neither is leaving the common European currency. Instead, the National Rally focuses on criticising globalism and calls for protectionist economic measures under the pretext of environmental protection. It thus continues the ongoing transformation policy of dediabolisation, which is designed to increase the party's electoral potential. This bachelor thesis analyses the electoral changes in the National Rally's European politics, explains their causes and then analyses the different steps according to the three-dimensional typology of euroscepticism of political scientist Sofia Vasilopoulou. It further demonstrates that Euroscepticism cannot be perceived monolithically and presents the reasons that make it difficult for Eurosceptic parties to form coalitions to reform the EU