German Euroscepticism: Alternative für Deutschland in 2014

Abstract

The 2014 European Parliament (EP) election in Germany was marked by the success of the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), a new eurosceptic party that gained 7 percent of the vote. The party had been founded in protest against the government's euro policies, calling for the end of the common currency. Its electoral performance might thus be attributed to critical views of the European Union (EU) in Germany. However, the AfD also advocated stricter immigration policies. Moreover, its success might have been at least partly due to voters' desire to signal government disenchantment. While AfD supporters were indeed strongly opposed to immigration and critical of the political establishment and the government, analyses of survey data reveal that it was in fact euroscepticism that drove their vote choice.