United Kingdom and the European Union: Conflicting Communities

Britain's relationship with continental Europe can be characterized as a negative attitude towards deepening European integration. Britain's position towards the unfolding post-war project of European integration differed fundamentally. Britain has always been considered part of Europe, but from the United Kingdom's point of view it has not. The British tend to see themselves not just as a European country, but a special nation that is completely different from all their continental neighbours. The document will historically analyse priority issues explaining the special relationship between the EU and the UK. The article deals with the history of the British relationship with the European Community/European Union (EC/EU) from the immediate post-war period until 1994, when the tensions in Britain's relations with the EC/EU peaked during the ratification of Maastricht. The paper is elaborated with a methodology based on a critical examination of the historical facts of the UK's traditional approach to European integration.