The essays collected here outline a number of factors which made the EC too young to be able to assimilate Britain's important interests, and the British over-optimistic in their approach to negotiations with the Community. The role of conflict over Western strategy and European political union in the breakdown of the negotiations is re-assessed, and the negotiations over agriculture and the Commonwealth are revealed in an entirely new light.

The impact of the initial British application to join the European Community on the development of the EC, and on the role of Britain and ita European neighbours in broader world politics is examined here. The dramatic end to the British application was a devastating blow to many Europeans and Americans who hoped that the EC would be strengthened by the inclusion of the UK.