With Europe, But Not of Europe

Abstract

Arguments that dominated the 2016 referendum campaign have roots that go right back to the post-war years. Winston Churchill was the first to call for a United States of Europe—but without Britain. British reservations about European unification took on a sharper profile as six continental states moved closer to founding the EEC. Concerns about a loss of sovereignty, of national independence, and of a trade policy that offers optimum advantages were first voiced in 1961—together with an explicit refusal to subordinate the national polity to any foreign authority. That was the year in which the United Kingdom submitted its first application to join the EEC. An almost blind confidence in the wisdom of the people as opposed to elites and experts surfaces at the same time. It paved the way for subsequent referenda. When Britain finally joined, it did so under unfavourable auspices. The EEC had created facts that ran counter to fundamental British interests, and the United Kingdom was on the threshold of a major economic upheaval, reinforced by the first oil crisis.