04501nam a22005175i 4500001001800000003000900018005001700027007001500044008004100059020001800100024003500118050001500153072001500168072001500183072002300198072001800221100008100239245014600320250001800466264006900484300004300553336002600596337002600622338003600648347002400684490005700708505025500765520240801020650003703428650002003465650002903485650003803514650002103552650002303573650002303596650002903619650004203648650002203690710003403712773002603746776003603772776003603808776003603844830005703880856004603937978-3-031-76984-9DE-He21320251030114646.0cr nn 008mamaa241227s2024    sz |    s    |||| 0|eng d  a97830317698497 a10.1007/978-3-031-76984-92doi 4aJN1-9692.2 7aJP2bicssc 7a1D2bicssc 7aPOL0580002bisacsh 7aJPx1D2thema1 aPoggiolini, Ilaria.eauthor.4aut4http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut14aThe Long Disenchantmenth[electronic resource] :bReassessing UK-EU Relations from Accession to Brexit (1969–2016) /cby Ilaria Poggiolini.  a1st ed. 2024. 1aCham :bSpringer Nature Switzerland :bImprint: Springer,c2024.  aXII, 210 p. 1 illus.bonline resource.  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier  atext filebPDF2rda1 aContributions to International Relations,x2731-507X0 aIntroduction -- Chapter 1: Uninvolvement -- Chapter 2: The way in -- Chapter 3: In but without the fireworks -- Chapter 4: The meaning of European Union from within -- Chapter 5: Thatcher’s European Thatcherism -- Chapter 6: Epilogue -- Conclusion.  aThis book seeks to replace a comforting European narrative of British missed opportunities with a chronicle of the complexity of UK/EC-EU relations. After nearly a decade of Brexit (2016), it revisits the historical evolution of the relationship between Britain and Europe since the 1970s. Building on an in-depth study of primary and secondary sources, the author sheds new light on the intricacies of that relationship. The book is structured in six chapters, the first of which reflects on the causes of the UK's lack of engagement in the early and crucial developments of the European Community. The second chapter revisits ten years of stop-go diplomacy of accession, and the meaning of the first enlargement for Britain and its partners. The third chapter argues that in the early years, entry represented for Britain an opportunity to deliver change, working with France and Germany inside the EC; and, as an EC member, building new relationships with countries outside, including in the Commonwealth. The fourth chapter focuses on the dawning realisation that EC membership meant for Britain joining its partners on a journey towards an unknown destination in search of whatever-closer Union would mean. The Fifth chapter concentrates on the 1980s, when, on the one hand, the British government was to the fore in the creation of a single market; while on the other it openly challenged an agreed-upon narrative, among the continental member states. This narrative was one which sought to reshape European values and relationships, together with its culture, geography and history, round a commitment to greater integration. The final chapter is an epilogue that examines the political decisions of the last four British prime ministers: Major, Brown, Blair and Cameron, in confronting and reacting to the reality of European Union, from the Maastricht Treaty (1992) onward. This examination suggests that, rather than political continuity, discontinuity, led the UK, through Prime Minister David Cameron's efforts at renegotiation in the EU, to Brexit, and his instant resignation. This book invites readers to rethink, refine, and challenge the dominant narrative of Britain as a predictable, permanent outsider condemned to irrelevance in the EC/EU. It will appeal to scholars of international relations and political history, as well as political decision-makers, both in Britain and the EU. 0aEuropexPolitics and government. 0aWorld politics. 0aInternational relations. 0aInternational relationsxHistory. 0aEuropexHistory.14aEuropean Politics.24aPolitical History.24aInternational Relations.24aDiplomatic and International History.24aEuropean History.2 aSpringerLink (Online service)0 tSpringer Nature eBook08iPrinted edition:z978303176983208iPrinted edition:z978303176985608iPrinted edition:z9783031769863 0aContributions to International Relations,x2731-507X40uhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-76984-9