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While acknowledging the ability of the European Union to advance towards greater political and economic integration, this book questions the wisdom of the European "project." Economic and monetary union is a risky venture even for the convergent countries of the continent--let alone divergent Britain--as the uncertain birth of the Euro proves. Political union, moreover, remains an elite aspiration that weakens democratic accountability and lacks popular legitimacy. The likelihood is that the full scope of EU integration will also reveal profound limits.
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European Integration Scope and Limits
Martin Holmes
European Integration
Also by Martin Holmes BEYOND EUROPE THATCHERISM: Scope and Limits, 1983–7 THE EUROSCEPTICAL READER (editor) THE FAILURE OF THE HEATH GOVERNMENT THE FIRST THATCHER GOVERNMENT: Contemporary Conservatism and Economic Change THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT, 1974–9: Political Aims and Economic Reality
European Integration Scope and Limits Martin Holmes Lecturer in Politics St Hugh’s College Oxford
© Martin Holmes 2001 For details of original publication of the chapters in this book, please see the footnotes on chapter-opening pages. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2001 by PALGRAVE Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of St. Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). ISBN 0–333–91446–5 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Holmes, Martin. European integration : scope and limits / Martin Holmes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–333–91446–5 1. European Union. 2. European Union—Great Britain. I. Title. JN30 .H67 2000 341.242'2—dc21 00–041487 10 10
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
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Contents
Acknowledgements
vii
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 1
Introduction: Scope and Limits (2000)
viii 1
Part I Britain and European Integration 2
The Conservative Party and Europe (1994)
11
3
John Major and Europe: The Failure of a Policy (1997)
27
William Hague’s European Policy (2000)
53
4
Part II 5 6 7
Economic Integration
From Single Market to Single Currency: Evaluating Europe’s Economic Experiment (1995)
75
The European Economy East and West: Convergence or Divergence? (1996)
109
The Transatlantic Implication of European Monetary Union (1997)
121
Part III Political integration 8 9 10
European Federal Integration: The Case Against (1996)
147<