ABSTRACT
Britain has rarely played a smooth part in European integration, earning the description of “an awkward partner”.1 Some in the rest of the European Union could be forgiven for thinking that in recent years Britain has gone further, becoming a dysfunctional and destructive partner. Not a day seems to pass without Britain’s domestic politics causing problems for the rest of the EU. The relationship now seems characterised by vetoes, rows, allegations of blackmail, of Britain gambling with its future, and where even a British Foreign Secretary can declare that Britain is “lighting a fire” under the EU.2 Some of these problems stem from tensions within the Conservative Party. Yet the “European question” in British politics is not simply about the problems of one political party. Whatever the outcome of the UK’s 2015 general election, the issue of Britain’s EU membership looks set to remain a topic of often fraught political debate.3 All three of the UK’s main
parties are committed to holding an in-out referendum, albeit under different circumstances, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats prepared to hold an in-out referendum in the event of any new EU treaty or significant transfer of new powers.4 That the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) has emerged as a political force in part explains why this has happened. But we should not overlook the internal-and in the case of Scotland’s vote on independence, existential-problems the UK is going through, which have knock-on effects for the rest of Europe.5
While a British exit (also known as a “Brexit”) is not inevitable or as likely as might appear if one focuses on the UK’s press coverage of EU matters, the UK’s ongoing difficult relations with the rest of the EU mean that it looks set to remain an awkward partner. Even if the government elected in 2015 is not directly committed to holding a referendum, the idea and possibility will continue to hang over UKEU relations. So far Britain’s behaviour has provoked only a few direct calls for it to leave the
EU.6 This is in part because politicians of other member states have tried to avoid involving themselves in a topic that could influence the UK’s 2015 general election. However, it is also because the idea of any member state either quitting or being forced out of the EU is a taboo. Either would be an unprecedented and potentially traumatic development. Despite this, there is limited analysis of the potential implications for the EU of a withdrawal by Britain or any other member state. This compares with the plethora of books, reports, articles and speeches on what a Brexit could mean for the UK.7 The growing possibility of a British exit, and the possibility of a Greek exit from the Eurozone (known as a “Grexit”), has led to some publications, but these remain small in number.8 The academic, especially theoretical literature is little better. The vast literature on Europeanisation
