Britain as an Awkward Partner: Reassessing Britain's Relations with the EU
| Published date | 01 February 1995 |
| Date | 01 February 1995 |
| Author | Jim Buller |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9256.1995.tb00018.x |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Politics
(1995) 15(1)
pp.
33-42
Britain
as
an
Awkward
Partnec
Reassessing
Britain’s
Relations
with
the
EU1
Thhis
article attempts to do two things.
It
begins
by
asserting that there
is
something
that can be called the Awkward Partner
thesis, and that this
is
the dominant academic
intepretation
of
Britain’s relations with the
European
Union.
The article then goes on to
critically assess this thesis, Particular atten-
tion is paid to the concept
of
awkwardness,
and an attempt is made to question its me-
fulness and validity The article then goes on
to question the underlying argument
of
the
thesis that Britain’s persistent awkwardness
is
a result
of
peculiar domestic political institu-
tions and structures.
Introduction
This article attempts
to
do
two
things. It
begins by asserting that there is something
that can be called the Awkward Partner
(AP)
thesis, and that this is the dominant academic
interpretation
of
Britain’s relationship with
the European Union
(EU)
since
1945.
The
rest
of
the article attempts
to
piece together
this interpretation, and provide
a
critical
assessment
of
it.
This critique splits into
two
parts. Firstly,
it
will
be
concerned with
the
concept
of
awkwardness, and an attempt
will
be made
to
question
its
usefulness and rele-
vance
to
the study
of
Britain’s relations
with
the
EU.
Secondly, the article will critically
assess the underlying argument
of
the thesis
which states that Britain’s awkwardness is the
result
of
powerful domestic political factors.
Before going on, however,
it
is important to
note a couple of problems
of
analysis.
Problems
of
analysis
Putting together the
AP
thesis and describing
it accurately is a difficult task for
two
main
reasons. Firstly, this interpretation is popular
and spread over many academic books and
articles. The
Ap
thesis
is
not synonymous
with the work
of
Stephen George, although
George’s work
is
the most obvious manifesta-
tion
of
this interpretation.
It
should be noted
that the
AP
thesis was popular
and
influential
long
before
the book
An
Awkward Partner
(1990>,
and can be found amongst the pages
of
broadsheet newspapers and weekly current
affairs journals since Macmillan first applied
for membership
of
the
EEC
in
1961.
Since
then, the thesis
has
been given more explicit
Jim
Buller,
University
of
Sheffield
Q
Political Studies Association
1995.
Published by Blackwell Publishers,
108
Cowley Road,
Oxford
OX4
UF,
UK
and
238
Main Street, Cambridge,
MA
02142,
USA.
33
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