Britain and the European Community: The Politics of Semi-Detachment - Hardcover

by Stephen George (Editor)

With the impending unification of the European economic markets in 1992, the role of individual states within the European Community has become an important yet rarely studied area of European politics. The contributors to this collection of papers apply a "domestic policy" approach to European affairs in an attempt to illuminate foundations of British policy in the European Community. Three themes are identified and pursued--the attempts of the central government to act as a gatekeeper between the British political system and the European Community in order to protect British sovereignty; the emergence of varying rates of adaptation to membership in different sections of government and politics; as well as Britain's apparent "semi-detachment" from the mainstream of European integration. Within this framework, the contributors examine ways in which central departments of state, local government, Parliament, political parties and the general public opinion all have influence on policy.

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The role of individual states within the European Community is one of the most important and least studied areas of European politics. The contributors to this collection apply a 'domestic politics' approach to European affairs in an attempt to shed light on the bases of British policy in the European Community. They identify and pursue three major themes: the attempts of central government to act as a gatekeeper between the British political system and the EC to protect British sovereignty; the emergence of varying speeds of adaptation to membership in different sections of government and politics; and Britain's apparent 'semi-detachment' from the mainstream of European integration. Within this framework they examine the ways in which central departments of state, local government, parliament, interest groups, political parties, and public opinion all have influence on policy.