„Welcome Sceptics!“: A Pro-European Argument in Favour of Eurosceptics in the European Parliament.

Eurosceptic parties won a clear victory in the 2009 European Parliament elections. Contrary to the negative reactions from some pro-European politicians and political scientists, this essay argues that the electoral success of Eurosceptic parties will neither endanger the process of European integration nor keep the Euro-pean Parliament from working in an efficient and effective manner. Ideally, debates concerning European integration should be held during national elections. However, since they rarely are, European parliament elections offer the next best opportunity for such debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]