The European Union and British politics

Abstract:

This book explores the interaction of British politics with the European Union and how the development of each has been influenced by the other.

The book is organised over ten substantive chapters. The first chapter sets out the background. Chapter two examines the ways in which domestic institutional structures refract the impacts of European integration and maintains that this is central to analysis of the EU and British politics. The terminology and jargon of the EU are addressed in chapter three. The pull of the competing calls from the USA and the Commonwealth, and Britain's relations with emerging structures of European economic and political integration, are covered in chapter four. Britain's role within the EU and the quickening pace of integration are discussed in chapter five which also addresses the capacity of European integration to impact upon British politics. Chapter six looks at the main European institutions and the attitudes of British governments to these institutions. Chapter seven explores key EU policies and looks at agriculture, competition, industrial, environmental, social, economic and monetary policies, foreign and security policy, and internal security. The changing nature of British governance and the organisation of the British state are featured in chapter eight which examines how they impact on Britain's dealings with the EU. The integration of Europe and the almost internecine strife it has brought upon the British political parties is explored in chapter nine. The British public response to such integration through its media outlets is discussed in chapter ten, which seeks to assess the views of the British people on key EU questions and to explore the influencing sources of information. The conclusive chapter assesses the influence of all these factors and seeks to answer the conundrum posed by a well publicised resistance to increased integration accompanied by an increasing involvement in EU affairs.

The work will interest scholars and students engaged in European Union studies and International Affairs.