Why did Britain not become a leading member of the European Union and why is it sometimes considered as an ?awkward partner' ?

Résumé du document

A wise man once said that a nation which did not know its own history would be condemned to repeat its mistakes. The History of Britain accession and membership to the EC and EU has singled out the country, compared to the other members. The recent events in Britain European political strategy under Blair leadership tend to show that the British Prime Minister takes the first statement into account. Indeed, Mr Blair's stance on the EU issues highlights a shift compared to the policies implemented by Britain over the past decades. A historical analysis of Britain's relationship with the EU illustrates the difficulty encountered by successive governments in shaping the British European Policy.

Extraits

[...] London: Macmillan Press Ltd, p Baker, D. & Seawright, D. (1998). How much does Parliament know or care about Europe, Parliamentary Brief, Vol No ‘Peoples Priorities' Financial Times. 05/01/1998 Holden, R. (1999). The Marginalisation of Europe: Testing New Labour European credentials. Cardiff: University of Wales Institute, p Grant, C. (1998). Can Britain lead in Europe? Centre for European Reform I. Forster, A. & Blair, A. (2002). [...]

[...] ‘Preserving Britain's independence' The Washington Times, p. B04, 06/01/2003 Marquand, D. (1998). Labour kick the Winning Habit?' The New Statesman, 23/10/1998 Holden, R. (1999). The Marginalisation of Europe: Testing New Labour European credentials. Cardiff: University of Wales Institute, p Ibid., p Mackay, F. (2001). UK and Europe: Why is it such a contentious political issue? Edinburgh: School of Social and Political Studies, p Ludlow, P. quoted in: Koutakou, V.N. & Emerson L.A. (2000). The European Union and Britain. [...]

[...] She held the view of Britain's superiority in Europe, Pilkington argues.[28] Her attitude in the European Council meetings throughout the 80s led to a growing isolation of Britain in Europe as we mentioned before. In the 92 elections, Major assumed those Conservative governments since 79 had protected British sovereignty from the ‘threat of federalism'. Britain has been highly selective. (VAT, Customs checks, CAP and equal working hours). The British, as opposed to the French, had always difficulties to present their national interest in a way that did not appear against common EC interest. [...]

[...] He wanted the Commission to be the Executive and the Council of Ministers to be the Senate. No. No. No.'[25] This discourse played an important role in the downfall of Margaret Thatcher. This attitude tended to isolate Britain from the other members. Over the History of Britain in the EU, two competing visions of Europe have been raised: Britain has been most in favour of the intergovernmental model of EU rather than the federal or confederal approach, that implies a political Union, defended by most EU members. [...]

[...] The analysis will focus on the major obstacles to Britain commitment within the EU institutions in the wake of the European historical events of the last 50 years. I will consider first the extent to which the leadership of other European countries has hampered Britain commitment in the European Union. Afterwards, I will study how decisive and maybe detrimental was the fact that Britain has kept anchored in its traditional views of European political issues. We will then observe the way the ‘British exceptionalism' has influenced the debates on the UE. [...]