British policy towards European integration has been one of the most divisive issues in British politics since 1945. This book analyses the formative period of British European policy between 1945 and de Gaulle's veto against British EEC membership in 1963. It is the first historical study to look at Britain's role in the integration process on the basis of a detailed evaluation of the newly accessible government records, of Conservative Party records, private papers and interviews. It argues, in particular, that it is necessary to understand the unexplored ambiguities in Britain's first EEC application of 1961, shown here as an attempt to appease the American government, to hold the Conservative Party together and to split Labour, in order to appreciate the continuing problems in its relations with Europe. In conclusion, the epilogue highlights the most important continuities in British European policy until the present.

The US was a dominant actor in the European integration game in the 1950s, although not normally a formal participant at the negotiation table. The Americans promoted integration based on Franco-German reconciliation and sought to prevent the emergence of nationally controlled nuclear weapons in Germany and France and developments toward an independent European ́Third Force ́. Based on material from American, British, French and German archives the book covers the negotiations about the European Defence Community, the Western European Union and Euratom/the Common Market.

Newly revised and updated, this second edition is the classic economic and political account of the origins of the European Community book offers a challenging interpretation of the history of the western European state and European integration.

This book presents a cultural history of European integration. It revisits the European Community’s postwar origins through the lens of symbolic representation and so reveals a hitherto unknown side to Europe’s notorious technocrats. They were not simply administrators: they were skillful marketing experts, clever spin doctors, and talented stage directors. After all, what made the European Community stand out among the multitude of postwar European organizations? This book argues that it was not so much its vaunted supranationalism, nor its economic significance; it was its self-proclaimed role as torchbearer of European unity. Combining archival research with media analysis, The Symbolic Politics of European Integration reviews Europe’s early parliaments, its early diplomacy, and its long search for “capital cities,” from Strasbourg to Brussels. It tells the story of the political theater that staged an enterprise of technocrats as the embodiment of a Europe united in peace and prosperity. This book is an invaluable resource for historians of postwar Europe, as well as for analysts of today’s EU, who seek to understand how coal, steel, and tariffs became the stuff the European dream was made of.

Explores how the European policies of the British Labour Party and Danish Social Democrats evolved between 1958 and enlargement of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973, comparing how they each responded to the integration process at key moments and, more innovatively, highlights the impact of informal contacts between them.

This book centres on the effects of the political and later economic crisis which seriously affected the European Union and its impact on the seemingly endless UK debate over Britain's position within the EU.

During the past fifty years few issues in British politics have generated such heated controversy as Britain's approach to European integration. Why has Europe had such an explosive impact on British politics? What impelled British policymakers to embrace a European destiny and why did they take such a cautious approach? These are some of the key issues addressed inThe Reluctant Europeans. This new study draws upon recently available source material providing a clear chronological account and covering events right up to Blair's first year in office and the launch of the Euro.

This book examines the role played by civil nuclear energy in Britain’s relationship with Europe between the end of the Second World War and London’s first application to join the European Communities. Tracing the development of the British nuclear programme as it emerged as a global leader in constructing the world’s first atomic power stations, it analyses how the threat of energy shortages throughout the 1950s presented ministers with a golden opportunity to utilise nuclear cooperation as an instrument to influence the political shape of Europe. Importantly, this book will show how this chance was missed by ministers due to a combination of disorganization and diplomatic pressure, as well as a perennial lack of domestic resources. In so doing, this book joins the long-disconnected historiographies of European integration and nuclear energy to offer a new perspective on both scholarly fields.

This book is the first to concentrate on the British attempt to place the EEC within a larger Free Trade Area. It is also the first to use recently released records to examine the Foreign Office's Grand Design for political co-operation in Europe. Its main focus is Anglo-European diplomacy, yet it deals with wider international relations and the Cold War. The book therefore extends the debate by presenting a full historical analysis of Britain's response to the creation of the European Community.