1961

The UK first applies to join the European Economic Community

The United Kingdom was always one step removed from the vision of a united Europe.

It was a vision born after World War Two, with an underlying aim - to pool economic resources on a shattered and divided continent, and to make sure that war between France and Germany would never happen again.

But, from the start, a big question loomed in the background - where would Europe’s great island nation fit in? It was not until four years after the EEC was established in 1957, that the UK belatedly applied to join.

The application was motivated in part by fear of isolation as a new power bloc began to emerge in western Europe. With the Cold War against the Soviet Union firmly entrenched, governments in Paris and Bonn, and a new bureaucracy based in Brussels, were leading six countries towards ever-closer economic integration.

The UK was certainly looking for an economic boost, but it never quite shook off suspicion of the shared sovereignty that membership of the new European institutions implied. And while the British Empire was fading fast, London was also anxious to retain the independent trading links forged by its historic ties to the countries of the Commonwealth.

This sense of hesitation set the tone for decades to come. The French President Charles de Gaulle certainly smelled a rat. He vetoed the British application in 1963 and again in 1967, citing Britain’s “deep-seated hostility” towards the European project.

The UK, he once said, “is maritime; it is bound by trade, by its markets, to the most diverse array of countries - and often the most far-flung... its habits and traditions are very different.”

It was only in 1969, after de Gaulle’s resignation, that the green light was finally given for talks on British membership of the European Communities (EC) to begin.

Right: The signing of the Treaty of Rome, 1957