This paper examines less discussed aspects of Euroscepticism in Eastern Europe as a component of the institutional history of the 2004 EU enlargement. A focus on public support for European integration allows us to evaluate the consequences of the EU’s enlargement policy from the perspective of democratic legitimacy, as public attitudes demonstrate how institutions live up to the expectations of the citizens in a democratic setting. It also allows us to relate the legislative history of the eastward enlargement to its social impact and domestic political implications. The paper posits Euroscepticism as an unexpected outcome of the legal-institutional implementation of the EU enlargement policy. It argues that while East-European Euroscepticism defies clear categorisation as it fails to demonstrate consistent longitudinal trends not consistent across its performance evaluation, identity, and democratic legitimacy dimensions, it is indicative of the disconnect between the adjustment dynamics of the EU accession of Eastern Europe, accomplished at the elite level, and the broad-based public response to it. The core of East-European Euroscepticism is declining public trust in the European Union, its policies, institutions, and the economic benefits it generates against the background of general dissatisfaction with the workings of national and European democracy. The East-European publics have become increasingly sceptical of their representation as citizens whose voice ‘counts’ in the EU. They perceive the EU as less relevant to their personal situation although it represents well the interests of the Member States. Such contradictory evidence suggests that the conventional measures of Euroscepticism as a pan-European phenomenon need to be re-examined by exploring trends of continuity and change in public support for the EU in Central and Eastern Europe in the context of the 2004 enlargement.

中文翻译：

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重返欧洲成为欧洲人：在2004年加入欧盟后的12年中，中欧和东欧公众重新支持欧盟的趋势

本文探讨了东欧怀疑论方面的内容，这些方面在东欧是2004年欧盟扩大的制度历史的一部分。公众对欧洲一体化的支持的关注使我们能够从民主合法性的角度评估欧盟扩大政策的后果，因为公众的态度表明了机构在民主环境中如何达到公民的期望。这也使我们能够将东扩的立法历史与其社会影响和国内政治影响联系起来。该论文认为，欧洲怀疑主义是欧盟扩大政策在法律制度上的出乎意料的结果。它认为，虽然东欧欧洲怀疑论者未能清晰地归类，因为它没有表现出在其绩效评估，身份和民主合法性维度上不一致的纵向趋势，但这表明欧盟加入东欧调整动力之间的脱节。 ，是在精英级别完成的，也是公众对此的广泛回应。东欧欧洲怀疑主义的核心是，在人们普遍不满国家和欧洲民主运作的背景下，公众对欧盟及其政策，机构及其产生的经济利益的信任正在下降。东欧公众越来越怀疑自己作为欧盟中“重要人物”的公民的代表身份。他们认为欧盟与他们的个人情况无关紧要，尽管它很好地代表了成员国的利益。这种相互矛盾的证据表明，在2004年扩大的背景下，需要探索连续性的趋势以及公众对中欧和东欧国家对欧盟的支持的变化趋势，以重新审视作为欧洲泛泛现象的欧洲怀疑主义的常规措施。