Europhile: Encyclopedia II - Europhile - Europhile vs. Pro-European

Europhile - Europhile vs. Pro-European

From its etymology, "Europhile", which could just define the sentiment of belonging to a community of people, is mostly used to infer connotations of unconditional or irrational 'love' of integration, that would indicate dogmatic support for integrationist policy irrespective of the potential negative consequences.

As such, some consider the term innaccurate when applied to EU support that's based on a cost-benefit view that weighs practical benefits versus loss of national sovereignty. Due to this, the term pro-European is most often used by pro-EU political parties and other organisations.

The difference is akin to that between euroscepticism (rational questioning of policy) and europhobia (an irrational fear of such ideas). The latter is a pejorative term which is not usually accepted as legitimate by the people to whom is applied.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Europhile vs. Pro-European", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki