The British Question: What Explains the EU’s New Angloscepticism?

Abstract:

For much of this year, Brussels has been nervously eyeing the UK. Attention has naturally focussed on the general election and the rather ambitious European policy pledges made by the Conservative Party.

Yet, there is also a latent scepticism about the nature of the UK's participation in European cooperation more generally: although the Tories are clearly marked out in their hostility to European integration, aspersions have been cast about the willingness of all British governments, whatever their political stripe, to engage in the EU.

The political system developing under the Lisbon Treaty demands a constructive approach to European cooperation from its member governments. The UK has always been considered an asset for the EU's global ambitions and has therefore profited from notions of its pragmatic exceptionalism. Mainland governments are unlikely to permit this any longer without demanding greater concessions.