The European Community, 1970–85: Turbulence, Europessimism and Eurosclerosis — Widening at a Cost

Abstract

The next fifteen years were to be the most difficult period in the EC’s history. To a significant extent this was due to problems relating to absorbing Britain, and to a lesser extent Denmark — the ‘awkward partner’ and one of the ‘reluctant Europeans’.¹ Widening and deepening did not take place simultaneously, and while the 1973 enlargement was clearly not the only reason why integration slowed down, it was a source of constant interruption and disruption to the daily business of Brussels. The main casualty of this period was what had already become the holy grail of the supporters of European integration — economic and monetary union. There were some apparent steps forward: