The development of the EU is being tested by the United Kingdom’s ‘Awkward’ stance on the supranational development of policy areas that do not specifically link to the single market project. This paper seeks to examine recurrent crises in EU-UK relations, notably the precursors to the referendum on UK membership in 1975, and that postulated for 2017. Comparisons will be made between the perceived link between federalism and European development in the two cases, and on the responses made by the European polity to the UK’s policy demands. Particular attention will be made of the way the UK’s (mis)understanding of sovereignty frames the debates.
This paper will set out to evaluate the thesis that the EU has exhibited, and continues to exhibit, federal traits in preserving unity and diversity and permitting a re-positioning of political relationships that ensures continued participation of all parties in the project.
