Introduction: A healthy scepticism?

This article seeks to provide a framework for the following articles in this issue which analyze national case studies of Euroscepticism (in Britain, France, Germany and the Nordic region). It draws on existing analysis of European public opinion surveys in order to identify trends and suggest some explanations for fluctuations in support for European integration in the 1990s. It links these trends with debates about the relationship between elites and mass opinion formation in the European Union, particularly the role of political parties. It suggests that Euroscepticism might be healthy inasmuch as it indicates an increasingly aware and critical citizenry.