The French Senate on the Possibility of Britain's Withdrawal from the European Union in 2015-2016.

Abstract

The proposed article analyzes the position of the French political elite on the issue of the possible withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union (Brexit), which was discussed by Europeans even before the British national referendum on June 23, 2016. The authors use historical sources that were not introduced into scientific circulation earlier – transcripts of meetings of the French Senate and analytical reports prepared on behalf of Senate committees. This set of sources allowed us to study not only the discussions of parliamentarians, but also to see how French senators treated the possible withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union. The chronological framework of the study is 2015 and the first half of 2016. The article examines the following subjects: the history of Britain's membership in the EU, the events preceding the British Brexit referendum, the materials of the French Senate related to Brexit are examined, the process of negotiations between Europeans and the Cameron government is analyzed. The conducted research showed that French senators as part of the political elite of the Fifth Republic in 2015 - the first half of 2016, that is, before the British referendum, could not recognize the danger and, in fact, did not consider the possibility of a Eurosceptic referendum scenario, that is, the victory of supporters of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, which happened in June 2016.