‘Bridge-Building’ or

Abstract

The failure of the FTA negotiations was to bring some realization in London that the Six were not seeking Britain’s participation at any price. Still, no serious policy reappraisal was set in motion, and the goal of a purely economic arrangement with the European Economic Community remained virtually unchallenged. Hence, the period between December 1958 and January 1960 merely saw a shift from political to economic pressure to achieve this end – the latter to be applied by the formation of a second European trade grouping, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). What was advocated during 1959 was essentially a free trade arrangement between the two organizations – a policy which became known as ‘bridge-building’. This chapter will examine the effect of the new British approach both on the development of Community policy and on the Federal Republic as one of the main targets of the said economic pressure, given her trading interests in the EFTA markets. It will also highlight the unintended consequences of the ‘bridge-building’ efforts because it weakened Britain’s negotiating position overall and narrowed the room for maneuver for subsequent policy initiatives