Enlargement to the UK, the Referendum of 1975 and Position of Margaret Thatcher

Abstract

The negotiations for the British accession were successful in the early 1970s only after de Gaulle left his position as President of France. The French blockade to the British accession was removed only after the British Premier had reassured his French colleagues about the British commitment to Europe and secured concessions on specific French concerns. The enlargement of the UK, Ireland, Denmark, and Norway had become a difficult challenge for all the parties involved. The financial contribution to the European Budget was also a major issue during the negotiations. The official reason for the referendum of 1975 was that the UK citizens needed to express their opinion and decide about such an important issue linked with their individual and collective freedoms. Margaret Thatcher’s vision about European Communities covered such diverse areas as Europe and the EU; the Cold war, the USA, and the EU; the European Communities belonging to all its members; the Community not being an end in itself; national power against supranational constructions; weak bureaucracy; policies of the EU; European Market; European defence and relations between Europe and the USA.