During the past twenty years the British discussion of European issues has increasingly lost contact with reality or rationality. Wilful ignorance, political opportunism and media manipulation have unrecognizably distorted the European debate in the United Kingdom. Even those in theory favourable to a central and constructive British role in the European Union have found themselves endorsing many of the premises of their opponents. In this short book, British attitudes to the European Union, particularly those of the media and political classes, will be critically reviewed. The authors conclude that Britain's position within the Union is currently in great jeopardy; and that those who sincerely wish to ward off this danger need fundamentally to reconsider the political tactics and rhetoric they have employed until now.

For some politicians and commentators, Britain is always destined to be the 'odd man out' in the European Union, with a history and set of political attitudes which must always pit the United Kingdom's interests against those of its neighbours. For others, such claims of British exceptionalism are at best much exaggerated, and to the extent this exceptionalism exists it arises largely from subjective rather than objective factors. This collection of essays reviews British attitudes towards a number of current European issues. It does not attempt finally to decide the controversy about British exceptionalism, but rather to provide material for a more informed debate on this complex subject.

This is a study of the European Union's external decision-making processes and the present debate which surrounds them. It considers in turn three main elements of these processes, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the External Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)and the Common Commercial Policy (CCP).