New Labour and the European Union: Political strategy, policy transition and the Amsterdam Treaty negotiation

Book abstract:

Working on information from revealing sources usually closed to scholars, this book provides an analysis of the relationship between the European Union (EU) and the UK, specifically in terms of the rise and consolidation of New Labour in Britain since 1994. It examines, in particular, the development of Labour party policy-making with respect to the 1996-97 intergovernmental conference (IGC) in Amsterdam, with its emphasis on a more supranational approach, and in light of the British government's broadly more integrative approach to Europe on the whole.

After the introduction, which deals with Britain and the European Treaty Review of 1996, the work consists of six other chapters. Chapter two looks at the question of New Labour's emergent Europeanisation and the IGC agenda, and chapter three discusses Tony Blair's 'Working Group on the IGC'. In chapter four, there is work on the Party of European Socialists (PES), the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP), and trade unions, in terms of the Europeanising impact on policy. Chapter five provides a review of New Labour's build-up to government, chapter six examines the party in government itself, and chapter seven attempts some conclusions, particularly in terms of the tensions between continuity, change, and movements in ideological perspectives.

The book is intended for academic scholars and students focusing on this field.