ABSTRACT
The 1960s were a crucial decade in the history of Britain’s relationship with the European Economic Community (EEC). Since the end of the Second World War, the British had taken an approach towards European integration at odds with many of their continental neighbours. The 1950s witnessed the more serious divergence between Britain and the Six founding states of the European Communities; Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. In 1950, the British decided against participation in the Schuman Plan establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952.1 Three years later, the British withdrew from the Spaak Committee negotiations instigated at Messina, a process that culminated in the signature in March 1957 of the Treaties of Rome, setting up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Authority (EURATOM).2 Although historians have reached a comprehensive understanding of the rationale driving British policy, most still agree that Britain’s retreat from the Spaak Committee was a mistake.3 Thereafter, the British struggled to reconcile their interests with the burgeoning EEC. First, the Conservative government under Anthony Eden attempted to coax the negotiators of the Six into a broader free trade area.4 After this had failed, the new Macmillan government returned to Plan G, and sought to use the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) to build a free trade area around the fringes of the Community’s proposed common external tariff.5 The Free Trade Area talks became embroiled in technical difficulties and having encountered overt opposition from Fifth Republic France, the OEEC confirmed their collapse in December 1958.6 The British contented themselves with a European Free Trade Association (EFTA), comprising Austria, Denmark, Portugal, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Finally, as the 1960s began, Macmillan embarked on a review of British policy leading to Britain’s first application for membership of the European Communities in 1961.7 Although Macmillan’s initiative failed, by 1973 Britain was a full member of the EEC.
