Tra europeismo ed euroscetticismo. I casi dello Scottish National Party, del Bloque Nacionalista Galego e della Lega Nord

“Europe of the Regions”, “Europe of the Nations”, “Independence in Europe” are all recurrent expressions in the sub-state nationalist parties leaders’ discourses. These expressions show a tendency towards the Europeanization of these political formations’ objectives, but they are not always necessarily associated with Europeanist attitudes. Starting from these awareness the diachronic comparison of the Scottish National Party, the Bloque Nacionalista Galego and the Lega Nord proposes a new sources of reflection on the complex relations that this kind of parties establishes with the European dimension. In order to explain the reasons for the opposition or the support of European integration, particular emphasis is given to the “domestic structures of political opportunities” that, more than the European ones, condition the parties’ strategies. Relevance is given also to the analysis of the influence that some parties’ characteristics – left/right ideology and organization – can have on the pro/anti European choices. The book concludes by hypothesizing two main scenarios about the ways sub-state nationalist parties could use the European issue in the future, defining their orientation (euroscepticism and politics towards the local dimension; Europeanism and the radicalization of the territorial claims) in the light of both the current economic crisis and the probable effects deriving from the not far off referendum for independence of Scotland (September 2014).