Conservative Party of the UK and the European Union: from Euroscepticism to Brexit

Download

index.pdf

Date

2020

Author

Işık, Fatih

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

437
views

316
downloads

The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom has shown differing attitudes towards European integration. Conservative Governments in the early 1960’s strived for UK’s membership to the European Economic Community (EEC). Membership to the EEC was eventually achieved with a Conservative government led by Prime Minister Edward Heath in January 1973 and the Conservatives supported membership to the EEC in the 1975 referendum. However, aversion towards further European integration (i.e. Euroscepticism) started to become more prominent in the Conservative Party during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and onwards. Rising Euroscepticism continued in the Conservatives under subsequent party leaders John Major, William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Howard and David Cameron. Prime Minister Cameron vowed to hold a referendum regarding the UK's membership to the EU, which resulted in a leave the EU vote (i.e. Brexit) in 2016. The recent two Conservative Governments, led by Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson, have vowed to fulfil the leave result. This thesis shall present the divisions in the Conservative Party regarding European integration. It shall explore the reasons for rising Euroscepticism in the Conservative Party and the debates between the Pro-Europeanist and the Eurosceptic factions from the 1950’s to today.

Subject Keywords

European Union, European Union, Keywords :UK Politics, European Union, European Integration, Euroscepticism.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12624922/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/45166

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Party-level euroscepticism of the radical populist political parties in the european union member states: the cases of the united kingdom independence party (UKİP) and the coalition of the radical left (SYRİZA) Özbey, Ebru Ece; Şenyuva, Özgehan; Department of European Studies (2016) In this thesis, I investigate the strategic and ideological aspects of the Euroscepticisms of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) as examples of radical populist parties which have been on the rise in Europe for the last three decades –especially since the 2014 European Parliamentary elections. I contest the way these parties are represented in media and academia, which is often alarmist and devoid of nuance, and claim that deeming these parties as a t...
Reforming the European union budget: a socıal constructivist policy approach Deniz, Mustafa; Kahraman, Sevilay; Department of International Relations (2010) The budget of the European Union has accomplished a significant role for European integration in the history of the Union. However, it has not resulted into anticipated developments compatible with the Union’s institutional policy reform process in the last decades. The budget has emerged as a consequence of path dependent developments in its historical progress, which has dragged the European Union to a critical stage. It is rather challenging for the Union now to sustain the current structure of the budge...
Free movement of Turkish workers in the context of Turkey's accession to the EU Düzenli, Esra; Aşçıoğlu Öz, Gamze; Department of European Studies (2010) Within the broader scope of free movement of persons, free movement of workers is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the European Union (EU) law. It is one of most significant rights that are granted to the Union citizens and will be enjoyed by Turkish nationals after Turkey’s accession the Union. In this regard, this study examines the free movement of Turkish workers in the EU within the framework of Turkey’s EU accession process and two recent EU enlargements since 2004. Along with the legal s...
Tax expenditures in the European Union and Turkey Coşkun, Zeynep; Aşçıoğlu Öz, Gamze; Department of European Studies (2010) This thesis analyzes the tax incentives and protection measures in the European Union and Turkey. The definition and classification of these measures in the form of tax expenditures will be stated in this study. EU’s tax provisions in sources of the Acquis Communautaire will be described followed by the practice in the EU’s major policy fields. The legal background and major policy implications of these tax policy measures in the framework of Turkey’s tax laws will be explained followed by an evaluation of ...
European civil society : an emerging agenda Uzunçakmak, Şule Özge; Kahraman, Sevilay; Department of International Relations (2003) European Union as a sui generis political system has become an attractive subject of inquiry especially within the last decade. By expanding into ever new areas of integration and by widening its competences, the Union has become a complex structure. As a result, the Union has started to be perceived as an entity remote from its citizens. Therefore the debate on the future of Europe has intensified and the legitimacy of the Union has started to be questioned. With this questioning process, the emphasis has ...

Citation Formats

F. Işık, “Conservative Party of the UK and the European Union: from Euroscepticism to Brexit,” Thesis (M.S.) -- Graduate School of Social Sciences. International Relations., Middle East Technical University, 2020.