期刊名称：CAMBIO : Rivista sulle Trasformazioni Sociali
印刷版ISSN：2239-1118
出版年度：2016
卷号：6
期号：12
页码：255-261
出版社：Università degli Studi di Firenze
摘要：Professor Crouch, as a start, let us trace briefly the history of what might bedeemed “a complicated relationship”, such as that between Britain and the European Union (EU).This history began after World War II, when six European countries - Belgium, France, Italy,Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany - committed themselves to promote the constructionof a supranational institutional order, as a way to unify Europe and prevent further war within thecontinent. The first step was the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC),with the Treaty of Paris, in 1951. A Few years later, in 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by thesame countries, creating the European Economic Community (EEC). In these early stages, Britaindecided not to become a member. It was in the late 1950s that the British political class changed itsattitude. An arm wrestling with France, then, followed, since the President in charge, Charles DeGaulle, vetoed Britain’s request to join the Common Market. The deadlock was broken only in 1969,when De Gaulle resigned and Georges Pompidou became President. Afterwards, negotiations led, in arelatively rapid fashion, to the signature of an accession treaty, in 1972. Britain, thus, officially enteredthe EEC on 1 January 1973. No referendum was held in that circumstance. The idea of holdinga consultative referendum, however, was supported by the Labour Party a year later. This led to theenactment of the Referendum Act of 1975, which set out the rules and procedures for a referendum onBritain’s membership of the European Communities (ECs), that is the first ever national referendumin Britain. On 5 June 1975, more than 17 million people (about 67 percent of total votes) chosecontinued membership of the ECs. From that moment on, the history of Britain’s involvement inEuropean integration has been controversial, basically a history of limited participation. In particular,Britain obtained “opt-out” clauses, so that it was allowed not to join the Economic and MonetaryUnion (EMU) and the Schengen Area. The so-called “Brexit” referendum, which was held on 23June 2016, four decades after the former consultation, might thus be seen as a culmination of a longhistory of suspicion of the EU. But something has dramatically changed in the relationship. Theresults, in fact, are well known:
