Britain's Joining of the the EEC in 1973
The EEC's description is as an economic customs union, in a
supranational political structure. In 1951 the 'Six' first established
their European unity by signing the Treaty of Paris, which was the
beginning of the European Coal and Steel Community. The ECSC followed
a Plan by French Foreign Minister Robert Schumen, which arranged the
ECSC as the institution for the European coal and steel industries.
The EEC was the result of talks started at Messina, then finalised
when the Treaty of Rome was signed by the 'Six' in 1957. Britain was
not present at the talks at Messina, or for the signing of the Treaty
of Paris or the Treaty of Rome. This meant that Britain had not got
involved in the EEC when it was established, meaning it would be
harder to get involved later. A phrase applied to this lack of
involvement from the start, is "missed the bus" into Europe. A
conservative MP, Anthony Nutting, wrote in his book Europe Will Not
Wait (1964) that he believed that by "missing the bus" Britain had
been left far behind, loosing the chance to take a role of leadership
in Europe, from there it could have moulded Europe to suit itself.
Also he explained that if Britain had realised it would have had to
join in the future anyway, there could have been more involvement in
the talks in Messina, and the Rome Treaty, which would have meant an
early membership to the EEC and not a late one in 1957.
There are reasons why Britain 'missed the bus', and there are also
reasons that prove that Britain did not 'miss the bus' but didn't want
to or need to get the 'bus'. These reasons affect the absence of
involve...
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...was accused of not
being pro-European enough, by having to divide its attention between
the Commonwealth countries and its Special Relationship with America
Britain could give little attention to the EEC or Europe. The last
factor of De Gaulle meant that Britain did not gain membership until
De Gaulle had retired. De Gaulle vetoed Britain's applications,
accusing of not being pro-European enough, this may have been because
he wished France to remain the leader of Europe with no competition
from Britain. Also he had plans of Europe becoming a 'Third Force'
independent from American influences, Britain would have joined the
EEC meaning America could influence Britain who would in turn
influence the other European countries.
Britain finally obtained membership to the EEC in 1973, with the
French President's support.
At this time, Americans were following the French Revolution very closely, but France’s declaration of war on Great Britain hadn’t greatly affected American politics, yet. This changed in 1972, when none other than Edmond Charles Genêt was chosen to serve as the new French envoy to the United States. When he arrived, French supporters went crazy. Genêt saw this and decided to use his new popularity and influence to act on his radical beliefs. He attempted to gather troops to launch an attack on Spanish Florida and pay fleets of privateers to cripple British commerce. These actions violated Washington’s promise to remain "friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers" which was the basis of his Neutrality Proclamation. Washington devised this treaty, which excluded the United States from the French Revolutionary Wars because America was still relatively young and unprepared for involvement in such international conflict.
Churchill is not as enthusiastic about this conference as even Stalin, or I and would much rather take allied matters into his own feeble hands. I deplore this, and can just about guarantee that Stalin feels the same exact way. Enough of the conference, pessimistic though I may be.
The Schuman proposal began various European countries setting up the European Coal and Steal Community (ECSC), this was signed in 1951 by six countries. The countries that initially set up the ECSC were France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. The idea behind the ECSC was the first serious institutional committee in Europe and was the start of integration, the aim was to provide a common market of coal and steel trade. This meant that each of the states would be able to have access to the various qualities of coal and steel that the members had with no tariff of importing and exporting to the various countries. This let the countries concentrate on their more efficient areas leading to specialisation. The ECSC began the beginning of supranational power because the "High Authority could adopt binding decisions" (1) as elements of decision making were carried out by ECSC committees. A supranational power is where the member state has to abide by the decisions made of the community, as they have power above the national level.
Millman, Richard. British Foreign Policy and the Coming of the Franco-Prussian War. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1965.
Since the end of the Seven Years War, Great Britain was increasingly becoming a global power – much to the dismay of France. Having been evenly matched before the Seven Years War in terms of the number of territories, the strength of their military parties, economic stability, and global influence, it was frustrating for France to see their previously equal neighbor as a now more influential power. Where France lost their influence, Great Britain seemed to establish themselves as a new influential power (specifically in North America and India, where France had to secede their control to Great Britain). This frustration resulted in France, not only attempting to prevent Great Britain from gaining more power, but also attempting to weaken – if not altogether remove – Great Britain's influence in the Western world. According to Professor Kenneth Morgan of Brunel University in
to Europe to try to persuade the British to accept a military alliance should the
In the 1950s, French insecurity feelings forced the state to strengthen its military and presumed Germany as their potential enemy. The state decided not to join the European Defence Community (EDC); where Britain and United States excluded, to stay away from its former archenemy. In other hand, the members of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO); particularly the hegemons US and Britain provided guarantees as the security providers to European in against potential German aggression. The guarantee triggered the French National Assembly to...
... him to conciliate.” (pg. 216) Finally, Taylor explains, after Britain’s failure to help reach an agreement, the aggression dragged both France and Britain into war with Germany.
Roy E. Disney once said, “When your values are clear to you, making decisions become easier.” There was plenty of controversy about whether the U.S. should ally with Great Britain or France. The Federalists agreed that they should ally with Great Britain, while the Republicans agreed that they should ally with France. Both sides had good reasons to ally and not to ally with each country. There were many positives and negatives about both countries in general, so reaching the final decision was not easy. On the federalist side, I agree that it would be a smarter decision to ally with Great Britain rather than France.
These “Inner Six” nations thus laid the framework for further integration of other nations within the region and its supranational principles were what led to the creation of the European Economic Community in 1957, further assimilating the European countries’ economies. The creations of these communities for economic purposes were meant to promote cooperation amongst European nations to prevent the further outbreak of violence which had subsided with the end of WWII. Through these general agreements of economic importance came further integration through the creation of more agreements throughout the 1960s, such as the abolishment of customs duties amongst their borders, creating free trade and border trade tax pacts among the Inner Six and across their borders to other signatory nations.
middle of paper ... ...government. The sexy of the sexy. The clause was another that was harsh on Germany, but you. could see the allies reasoning behind it.
George, S. and Bache, I. 2001.Politics In the European Union. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
“From time to time it is worth reminding ourselves why twenty-seven European nation states have come together voluntarily to form the partnership that is the European Union.” 1
Throughout document 23, Prime Minister Macmillan continuously states, " I must remind the house that the EEC is an economic community, not a defense alliance, or a foreign policy community, or a cultural community. It is an economic community,” Although it is clear throughout the document that the British were aware of the wider political agenda of the Six, their main focus was certainly economic benefits. I do think, however, that The United states had a great influence on Britain's desire to join the EEC. In document 23, Prime Minister Macmillan discusses how remaining outside the EEC could cause Britain to lose its influence not only in Europe but in Washington as well. He fears that the U.S. would pay more attention to the issues of the Six rather than Britain. On the other hand, Britain's conditions for entering the union suggest that they are only interested in the economic benefits. Britain wanted the Six to agree that Britain would be free to create their own foreign policy, fulfill their pledge to the EFTA, plan their own economy, and safeguarding of British agriculture. These conditions made me think that Britain still wanted to be their own country and handle their own affairs, but still benefit from the economic situation in the EEC.
The United Kingdom was a member of the European Union. The European Union is an example of the second most integrated arrangement, the economic union. Therefore, voting to leave is a direct effort to reverse regional economic integration.