ABSTRACT
As a focused enterprise agenda gradually developed in UK politics in the 1970s, this decade also saw the UK debating and then joining the European Economic Community (EEC). This chapter discusses the significant implications for UK enterprise policy. We focus on these implications in terms of discussing the European Regional Development Fund. The latter half of the 1970s saw political, economic and social turmoil, the rejection of Keynsianism and experiments with monetarism, especially as the country applied for an IMF bailout in 1976. This chapter will explore the implications of this turbulent context for small firms and the place of enterprise policy in the government’s response to ongoing crises. In particular, we highlight the increasing calls from both ends of the political spectrum for an expansion in the ambition and scope of enterprise policymaking in the UK.
