Giving a voice to Eurosceptic MEPs in the European Parliament is an important part of making the integration process more legitimate

While Eurosceptic parties at the national level have received significant attention from political scientists, Euroscepticism within the EU’s own institutions has generally been overlooked. Nathalie Brack uses role theory to assess the experiences of Eurosceptic MEPs in the European Parliament, finding that they can broadly be situated into three distinct categories: absentees, public orators, and pragmatists. She argues that far from being a problem for European integration, the presence of Eurosceptic MEPs actually has the potential to increase the legitimacy of the integration process by giving a voice to public opposition.