scholarly journals Making a Federal Case: Youth Groups, Students and the 1975 European Economic Community Referendum Campaign to Keep Britain in Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-478
Author(s):  
Stuart Smedley
Keyword(s):  
European Economic Community ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
European Economic ◽  
Youth Groups ◽  
Youth Politics ◽  
Federal Case ◽  
European Youth

Abstract To persuade the electorate to vote ‘Yes’ in the June 1975 referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Economic Community, Britain in Europe, the pro-European campaign organization, adopted a pragmatic approach, focusing on the economic benefits of membership and warning about the potentially grave consequences of withdrawal. Importantly, they avoided discussing proposed future advances in European integration. However, this theme was of importance to pro-European youth and student campaign groups—the subject of this article. Through a detailed analysis of their campaign literature, this article further transforms understanding of the 1975 referendum and, especially, the nature of the ‘Yes’ campaign by demonstrating how radical youth groups’ arguments for continued membership were. It argues that young activists yearned to discuss sovereignty and deeper integration in great detail as they offered idealistic visions for how the EEC could develop and benefit Britain. The article also advances knowledge of youth politics in the turbulent 1970s. Greater light is shone on the frustration pro-European youth groups felt towards the main Britain in Europe campaign. Meanwhile, it serves as a case study on the extent to which the perspectives of party-political youth groups and their superiors differed on a specific, highly salient policy issue.

The Nordic and the Continental European Dimensions in Scandinavian Integration: NORDEK as a Case Study

1971 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 173-181
Author(s):  
Gunnar P. Nielsson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
European Economic ◽  
European Model ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The University

This paper was delivered at the University of Aberdeen's conference on ‘Scandinavia and European Integration’ in March, 1971. There are four sections, the first of which is a chronological review of the Nordek case. Secondly, an analysis of the Nordek Draft Treaty provisions shows that the treaty represents the most far-reaching step in regard to the integration of social and economic policy spheres yet considered in Scandinavia. Thirdly, the key factor in explaining the collapse of the Nordek plan is the increasing penetration of European ‘high politics' into Nordic cooperative arrangements. Political stalemate concerning expanded membership of the European Economic Community favored Nordek. That stalemate was broken after de Gaulle's political demise. The changed conditions brought into sharp relief the incompatibility of Finland's neutrality policy with participation in a Nordek which would include such potential EEC members as Denmark and Norway. Finally, future prospects are examined through the construction of four basic choices presented as models. The Greater European model and the Divided Scandinavia model contain the international dimensions of the dilemma presently facing the Scandinavians.

Programming the Common Market: The Making and Failure of a ‘Dirigiste’ Europe, 1957–1967

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Hugo Canihac
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Practical Reasons ◽  
Economic Governance ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
European Economic ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common

This article contributes to the debate about the history of the political economy of the European Economic Community (EEC). It retraces the efforts during the early years of the EEC to implement a form of ‘European economic programming’, that is, a more ‘dirigiste’ type of economic governance than is usually associated with European integration. Based on a variety of archives, it offers a new account of the making and failure of this project. It argues that, at the time, the idea of economic programming found many supporters, but its implementation largely failed for political as well as practical reasons. In so doing, it also brings to light the role of economists during the early years of European integration.

Prospects for European Integration of the Republic of Moldova and the Constitutional Component

2021 ◽  
pp. 84-89
Author(s):  
K. Gylka
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
European Continent ◽  
European Economic ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
The Republic

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 European countries. The population is 508 million people, 24 official and working languages and about 150 regional and minority languages. The origins of the European Union come from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), consisting of six states in 1951 - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. These countries came together to put an end to the wars that devastated the European continent, and they agreed to share control over the natural resources needed for war (coal and steel). The founding members of ECSC have determined that this European project will not only be developed in order to share resources or to prevent various conflicts in the region. Thus, the Rome Treaty of 1957 created the European Economic Community (EEC), which strengthened the political and economic relations between the six founding states. The relevance of the topic stems from their desire of peoples and countries to live better. The purpose of the study is to identify the internal and external development mechanisms of European countries and, on this basis, to formulate a model of economic, legislative and social development for individual countries. The results of the study provide a practical guideline for determining the vector of the direction of efforts of political, economic, legislative, humanitarian, etc.

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