The Europeanization of UK Government: From Quiet Revolution to Explicit Step-Change?

[Introduction]. The adaptation of UK government to European integration has been a long-term process. It can be dated back to the 1961 application by the Conservative government under Harold Macmillan to join the European Communities. The process developed in earnest after the UK's accession in 1973. However, accession was not a "big-bang" event, since adjustment had begun before accession, and the EU of today has developed massively compared to the European Communities (EC) of 1973. The process since 1973 was an incremental one characterised by a broadening of policy coverage and increasing institutional density at European level. Occasional high-profile debates, such as those at the time of the 1975 UK referendum on continued membership or during the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, highlighted the importance of the European issue. However, away from these periods of wider public attention, the impact of integration upon UK government and the policy process developed incrementally in a relatively unseen manner. The cumulative effect of these changes, however, amounted to a substantial and significant alteration in the pattern of UK government and policy-making. Thus, over time a transformation of British government took place that could be regarded as a quiet revolution