Why has Britain's relationship with Europe proved controversial?

Question 1

Why did Britain’s relationship cause little domestic controversy in the aftermath of WW2?

Answer 1

Britain played a central role in creating the OEEC set up in 1948 to administer Marshall Aid

One of the original signatories of NATO in 1949

Founding member of the Council of Europe, established in May 1949 to promote unity and human rights

It committed itself to the defence of Europe by a series of treaties

Question 2

Why did controversy emerge?

Answer 2

The EEC was developed in the 1950s

Moves towards European Unity appeared to threaten national sovereignty

British interest was limited

Question 3

What did Britain play no part in?

Answer 3

The ECSE

1955 meeting at Messina that led to the 1957 Treaty of Rome

Question 4

Why did Conservative governments of the 1950s not join the EEC?

Answer 4

Hoped to make the colonial Empire and the Commonwealth into a strong trading bloc

Disliked the commitment to closer union contained in the Treaty of Rome

Didn’t believe that France and Germany could overcome centuries of hostility quickly enough to make the EEC a success

Question 5

What did Macmillan realise and what did he try to do?

Answer 5

That Britain’s colonial empire had no future

Establish a new relationship with Europe

Question 6

What did he do in 1960?

Answer 6

Established the EFTA as a rival to the EEC that wouldn’t infringe national sovereignty

Question 7

What happened in 1961?

Answer 7

The scale of Britain’s economic difficulties convinced Macmillan that Britain needed to join the Common Market to compete with Europe

Question 8

Why was the left of Labour opposed to Britain joining the Common Market?

Answer 8

Wanted to extend nationalised control of the British economy

Didn’t want to join an organisation committed to free enterprise

Question 9

Why was a faction in the Conservative Party opposed to joining the Common Market?

Answer 9

Looked back nostalgically to the days of the empire

Believed it would jeopardise or entirely sever Britain’s ties with the Commonwealth

Question 10

When did Britain join and why were divisions apparent?

Answer 10

1973

Heath could only secure a majority with the support of pro-European Labour MPs

Question 11

What did Wilson choose to do?

Answer 11

Tackle the divisions within Labour by holding a national referendum in June 1975

Question 12

What was the outcome of the referendum and what did this demonstrate?

Answer 12

2:1

The majority of British people accepted the pro-European argument that membership was vital to overcoming Britain’s economic difficulties

Question 13

Why did British attitudes towards Europe change?

Answer 13

Loss of empire

The economic success of the EEC compared with EFTA

The premiership of Heath, who was a pro-European

Encouragement from the US to join

The retirement of CDG in 1969 made British entry possible

Question 14

Who played a key role in campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum?

Answer 14

Thatcher

Question 15

What did Thatcher do in 1980 and what were the consequences?

Answer 15

Convinced that Britain was making a disproportionately large contribution to the EEC budget, she exclaimed: ‘I want my money back!’

Question 16

What happened in 1988?

Answer 16

Contributions were reduced by £3.5bn in a process that damaged relations with other member countries

Question 17

What did Thatcher think?

Answer 17

That Conservative economic policy had brought about economic recovery

Question 18

What did Thatcher do in 1988?

Answer 18

Denounced ‘a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels’

Question 19

What did Conservative MPs believe and why?

Answer 19

That Britain should play a major role in Europe, believing that the benefits of closer integration outweighed the disadvantages

Question 20

What did some of Thatcher’s senior ministers believe?

Answer 20

That inflation could best be tackled by Britain joining the ERM

Question 21

Why was the Eurosceptic wing emboldened?

Answer 21

Britain’s humiliating withdrawal from the ERM in 1992 and subsequent economic recovery confirmed their view that Britain didn’t benefit from European membership

Question 22

What did the Maastricht Treaty bring together and why?

Answer 22

The Conservatives who wanted to leave the EEC with those who believed the EEC should be no more than a trade partnership

Feared that Britain would become a federal state

Question 23

What did the pro-Europeans maintain and what did they argue?

Answer 23

Eurosceptic fears were exaggerated

That Britain benefited from being part of the world’s largest single market

That free movement removed obstacles to businesses within Europe

That the EU attracted more investment into Britain from outside Europe than Britain could achieve alone