The United Kingdom and the European Community.

I)History

The European Economic Community was officially established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957. It then consisted of six member states - Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, West Germany and the Netherlands. The European Union, as it is now known, now consists of 25 member states and presidency of the organisation changes annually. Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined in 1973, Greece joined in 1981, Spain and Portugal in 1986, Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995. On 1 May 2004, 10 new states from Eastern and Southern Europe joined the community. The EU is now the world's largest trading bloc by population, with about 455 million citizens. Among its achievements, the community has been responsible for establishing the Single Market in 1993 and launching the Euro in 2002. Former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, who died in July 2005, regarded his greatest achievement as securing Britain's entry to what was the Common Market in 1973.

More detailed history

The United Kingdom (UK) became a member of the European Economic Community (EEC) in January 1973. However, its relationship with the European Community (EC) has been marked by strong national preferences and prolonged periods of weighing pros and cons of membership. When the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was formed in the 1950's, Britain did not join due to political and economic reasons. First, the supranational characteristic of the Community did not appeal to the British elite and electorate. Second, European affairs were seen as irrelevant to the British public. Third, the consensus emerged that membership in the Community could weaken Britain's strong trading links to its Commonwealth countries. Finally, the argument arose that membership could jeopardize Britain's political ties to the Unites States. Therefore, the United Kingdom decided to opt out and instead create a European free trade area that would serve as a competing force to the European Economic Community. In 1959, Britain and seven other countries created the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). However, the realization emerged that remaining outside of the EC would lead to economic and political isolation, and Britain would have little influence in Europe. As a result, the Conservative Macmillan government lodged an application to join the EEC in August 1961. The application, however, was submitted with certain terms by the British government. The major conditions that surfaced were the safeguarding of the Commonwealth, guarantees of British agriculture, EFTA and the length of the transition period before membership. Negotiations commenced, but were then vetoed by French President Charles de Gaulle. In 1967 Britain under the new leadership of the Labour government applied once again but the French repudiated negotiations on grounds that the United Kingdom was not really committed to Europe and that the EEC's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) was incompatible with Britain's relations with the Commonwealth. It appeared that de Gaulle feared that French hegemony in the EEC would be threatened by the British entry. The situation changed with the shift of government in France and British accession negotiations emerged successful. The UK finally joined the EC on January 1, 1973.

Britain's entry into the EC began a long period of conflict that would emerge between the original "Six" and British preferences. Circumstances after accession became more strained due to the changes in the international political economy of the 1970's. The oil crisis in 1973 brought a period of inflation and low economic growth to the EC Member States and Britain, causing the latter to question its membership in the EEC. The British membership issue divided almost every political party and pressure groups in the country except for the British business community, which saw Britain's commercial destiny vested in the EEC. In Britain's first ever referendum in June 1975 the government posed the question whether the UK should stay in the European Community. The British electorate confirmed the British membership in the EEC with a 67 percent approval rate, with a 64 percent turn out rate.

In the first six years of membership, Britain focused more on domestic issues than making an impression on Europe. With the emergence of Margaret Thatcher on the political scene in 1979, Britain's place in Europe became a predominant theme. The new Conservative government, though, continued the skeptical British attitude to European integration. However, since the question of membership was closed, the remaining option was to attempt to remodel the Community in the British image with emphasis on certain policies. In particular, Britain favored a return to power rather than giving up its sovereignty and such an attitude was not perceived well by the other members of the EC.

II)1973: Britain joins the EEC

The United Kingdom has become a fully-fledged member of the European Economic Community. Ireland and Denmark also joined Britain in becoming the newest members of the community, bringing the total number of member states to nine. At midnight last night a Union Jack flag was raised at the EEC's headquarters in Brussels to mark the occasion. Prime Minister Edward Heath is optimistic that Britain's membership of the community will bring prosperity to the country. He said: "It is going to be a gradual development and obviously things are not going to happen overnight. "But from the point of view of our everyday lives we will find there is a great cross-fertilisation of knowledge and information, not only in business but in every other sphere. "And this will enable us to be more efficient and more competitive in gaining more markets not only in Europe but in the rest of the world." More than 1,000 Britons will relocate to Brussels over the coming months to take up their places as civil servants of the community. Britain will be given four votes within the council, which proposes policies on issues ranging from the environment to public health. Membership applications by the UK to join the EEC were refused in 1963 and 1967 because the French President of the time Charles de Gaulle doubted the UK's political will. ( cf document: “Le grand non” ) It is understood, however, his real fear was that English would suddenly become the common language of the community.

United Kingdom referendum, 1975

The United Kingdom referendum of 1975 was a post-legislative referendum held on 5 June 1975 in the whole of the United Kingdom over whether there was support for it to stay in the European Economic Community, which it had entered in 1973, under the Conservative government of Edward Heath.

In April 1970, during the 1970 general election Edward Heath said that further European integration would not happen “except with the full-hearted consent of the Parliaments and peoples of the new member countries.” Despite this comment, no referendum was held when UK entered into the Common Market into 1973, by entering into an accession treaty in 22 January 1972 (with Denmark, Ireland, Norway) and passing the European Communities Act 1972 in on October 16, 1972. Britain joined what would become the EU with Denmark and Ireland on January 1, 1973.

Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson was elected in 1974. His manifesto promised to re-negotiate the terms of Britain's EEC membership, then hold a referendum.

It was a pledge in the general election of February 1974 for a Labour government to re-negotiate better terms for Britain in the EEC, and then hold a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EEC on the new terms.. On 18 March, Wilson declared that "I believe that our re-negotiation objectives have been substantially though not completely achieved." According to a government pamphlet issued for the referendum, "the most important (issues in the re-negotiation) were FOOD and MONEY and JOBS".

Party support

The referendum was called in April 1975. Since Prime Minister Wilson's cabinet was split between strongly pro-Europeans and strongly anti-Europeans, he made the decision, , to suspend the constitutional convention of Cabinet collective responsibility and allowed ministers to publicly campaign against each other. In total, seven of the twenty-three members of the cabinet opposed EEC membership.

The "Yes" campaign was supported by Wilson and most of the cabinet, including Denis Healey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; James Callaghan, the Foreign Secretary; and Roy Jenkins, the Home Secretary. It was also supported by the majority of the Conservative Party.

The "No" campaign consisted mainly of the left of the Labour party. Some members of the right of the Conservative Party also campaigned for "No".

Results

The electorate were asked to vote yes or no on the question: '"Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?" Every administrative county in the UK had a majority of "Yes", except the Shetland Islands and Western Isles.

Yes votes	Yes votes (%)	No votes	No (%)
17,378,581	67.2	8,470,073	32.8

Reaction

Prime Minister Harold Wilson called it a "historic decision". Leading "Yes" campaigner Roy Jenkins said "It puts the uncertainty behind us. It commits Britain to Europe; it commits us to playing an active, constructive and enthusiastic role in it." Tony Benn, a key "No" campaigner said "When the British people speak everyone, including members of Parliament, should tremble before their decision and that's certainly the spirit with which I accept the result of the referendum."

III) THE BRITISH AND EUROPE

Public opinion in Britain regarding the country's membership in the EC has been the lowest among the Member States. However, the trend in British public opinion has changed over the course of membership. British policy towards Europe in the 1960's was made mostly at the elite level and the public was not well informed about EC issues. The issue of "European integration" was not an important topic for most voters and therefore public opinion was perceived as ambivalent. Britain's trading practice had created a sense among citizens that their country was not a part of "mainland Europe" and British citizens showed little enthusiasm in building a united Europe and feared the process would lead to a loss of identity. In 1977, only two years after Britain's successful referendum, 35 percent of Britons perceived EC as a "good thing." Attitudes changed by 1989 with 50 percent of citizens thinking the EC good. Polls conducted between the early 1980's and late 1990's indicated that the proportion of British voters who felt that their country had benefited from EC membership fluctuated between 30 and 50 percent. Also by 1998, 37 percent of British polled indicated that they supported European Union (EU) membership while 22 percent opposed it.

Economic Situation

As expressed earlier, the British government opted out of EMS and EMU in the early stages and throughout the 1980's Thatcher's commitment shifted to fiscal and monetary policies as a means to attain price stability. The British preferred a market-determined, evolutionary process towards an arrangement that would effectively be like a monetary union. In 1990, Britain finally entered the European Monetary System (EMS) and the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), which linked the British pound with the other Member States. This decision to enter the EMR, a move long supported by business groups, seemed to be a last resort effort by Thatcher for controlling inflation. However, Britain was forced to withdraw a year later when the Bank of England raised interest rates and the value of the Sterling declined.

In the early 1990's, sixty-one percent of British citizens opposed British membership in a European single currency, citing the loss of sovereignty and an increase in unemployment as a result of EU tax policies. By 1998 the British negative attitude toward the Euro had declined and only 48 percent of the electorate opposed the common currency. In spite of the growing acceptance of the Euro among some British citizens, the country remains sceptical whether a single European currency will last and therefore watches from the sidelines.

Agriculture

The Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) was seen as one of the most difficult aspects of EEC membership in 1972. Unlike in other Member States, Britain's domestic production of agricultural goods was fairly low. At the time of joining, Britain had high food imports due to its trade with its Commonwealth countries. The effect of the CAP had been to raise food prices above world levels and therefore it was difficult for Britain to return to its policy of cheap imports.

Current Issues

Britain as a late entrant in the EC has found it difficult to adjust both psychologically and politically to a union it did not create. Having opted out of both the social protocol and monetary union, Britain has now some catching up. The country's primary current issue centers on the joining the European Union's single currency, Euro. The British government supports the principle of a single currency and is working towards economic readiness and educating the voters on the issue with hopes toward a referendum and Parliament vote by the next elections. If it is to be an influential member of the EU, Britain will soon have to join the Euro, since waiting will only impose costs and bring no benefits.

Extrait du site WIKIPEDIA