The Permeability of the “Cordon Sanitaire” against Eurosceptics in the European Parliament

Based on voting protocols and debate minutes for the Carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) hearings in the European Parliament in 2022–2023 the cases where positions of MEPs from political groups “Identity and Democracy” and “European Conservatives and Reformists” coincided with those of parliamentarians from other parties (particularly opponents from “The Left” and “The Greens”) were analysed. These actions bypassing the “sanitary cordon” were explored together with the content of the CBAM, which made possible to identify the main motivations of MEPs’ voting. Such cases of solidary vote allowed to evaluate the strength of this barrier, the applicability of theories of two-dimensional nature of ideological space and the prospects of coordinated actions of selected parties after the European parliament elections 2024. These ad hoc coalitions were facilitated by the differences in attitudes to amendments. Among significant factors ensured Eurosceptic MEPs to express the same views were reluctanсe to transfer additional competences to the EU bodies and willingness to support the European industry. Supranationality and deindustrialisation are considered to be more imminent threats than climate change. The article explores a two-dimensional structure of ideological space of the given activity. Close relations between left-wing and right-wing parties could be explained by similarity of political views (i. e Euroscepticism in attributed not only to far-right politicians).