Adaptation by the British governmental elite to membership in the European Community has been slow and has been hampered by domestic political constraints. This article examines the problems of adaptation under the Thatcher and Major governments. The political sovereignty dimension, the U.K. budget contribution, British public opinion, and EC farm policy were central issues that London was to bring to the front burner of Community activity. The overriding problem of Maastricht in recent years has divided both the populace and the elites.
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References
1.
1. France under President de Gaulle shared this reluctance, but, following de Gaulle's political demise in 1969, successive French governments became adept at presenting their case in a way that was communautaire and acceptable to their partners, a trick that the British were slow to learn.
2.
2. The text of the German-Italian document may be found in Bulletin of the European Communities, point 3.4.1 (Nov. 1981).
3.
3. Juliet Lodge, ed., European Union: The European Community in Search of a Future (London: Macmillan, 1986).
4.
4. Official Journal of the European Communities: Debates of the European Parliament, 19 Nov. 1981, no. 1-277/216.
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5. For details of the search for a settlement, see Stephen George, An Awkward Partner: Britain in the European Community (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp. 153-155.
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6. Europe—The Future, reproduced in Journal of Common Market Studies, 23:74-81 (1984).
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7. Bulletin of the European Communities, point 3.5.1 (Mar. 1985).
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8. Bulletin of the European Communities, points 1.2.2 and 1.2.10 (June 1985).
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13. Margaret Thatcher, Britain and Europe (London: Conservative Political Centre, 1988).
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15. Committee for the Study of Economic and Monetary Union, Report on Economic and Monetary Union in Europe (Luxembourg: Office of the Official Publications of the European Communities, 1989).
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16. Great Britain, Hansard (Commons), 6th ser., 21 June 1990, col. 1111.
18. On the incidents that caused a cooling of relations, see Stephen George, “Britain and the European Community,” in Contemporary Britain: An Annual Review 1991 (London: Blackwell, 1991), p. 77.
19.
19. John Major, “The Evolution of Europe,”Conservative Party News, 11 Mar. 1991, p. 13.
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20. Council and Commission of the European Communities, Treaty on European Union (Luxembourg: Office of the Official Publications of the European Communities, 1992), Titles V and VI.
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23.
23. On the extent of British integration into the EC, see Simon Bulmer, Stephen George, and Andrew Scott, eds., The United Kingdom and EC Membership Evaluated (London: Pinter, 1992).
