The European Disunion

Abstract

This article explores the state of the UK debate on Europe following the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by France and the Netherlands in 2005. It examines the conflict between the intergovernmental and supranational conceptions of the EU that lay at the heart of the Constitutional Treaty, various scenarios that have been proposed for how the EU might now develop and different overlapping images of Europe that have defined the European debate. The contradictory nature of Britain's attitude to the EU is noted. The British remain strongly attached to an intergovernmental conception of the EU and reject any further pooling of sovereignty, while at the same time they are strongly attached to the virtues of a liberal world order, requiring constant subordination of national sovereignty to achieve it. It is argued that a re-founding of the European Union on Euro-sceptic principles might be a necessary precondition for further advance.