Bidding farewell? On the assessment of the structural or situational nature of the current crisis surrounding David Cameron's prospective referendum on Britain's continued membership of the European Union

In: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/185895

Open Access

Abstract

Since David Cameron's announcement for an 'in/out' referendum, Britain's membership of the European Union has been in jeopardy. This recent crisis in the UK-EEC/EU relationship is far from being the first one. Indeed, the UK has acquired the reputation of a difficult Member State since his accession in 1973. My dissertation explores this relationship throughout the different crises that occurred under the successive premierships in order to answer the following research question: is the current crisis surrounding Cameron's 'in/out' referendum a structural or a situational phenomenon? To that end, the dissertation body is divided into three parts. Part 1 deals with the legal and practical possibilities of withdrawal from the EU. Part 2 is a journey through the past UK-EEC/EU relationship with a focus on the crises and the reforms demanded by the former Prime Ministers. Part 3 focuses on the current crisis, exploring Cameron's demands for reforms and comparing them with three other party leaders' demands before the 2015 general election.