Accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities

This article is about the original accession in 1973. For the potential re-accession, see Potential re-accession of the United Kingdom to the European Union.
The UK and the EC in 1972 before Accession
Accession of UK in EC in 1973
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The accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities (EC) – the collective term for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) – took effect on 1 January 1973. This followed ratification of the Accession treaty which was signed in Brussels on 22 January 1972 by the Conservative prime minister Edward Heath, who had pursued the UK's application to the EEC since the late 1950s. The ECSC and EEC would later be integrated into the European Union under the Maastricht and Lisbon treaties in the early 1990s and mid-2000s.

The UK had been the first country to establish a Delegation to the ECSC in 1952, and the first country to sign an Association Agreement with the Community in 1954. The UK had first applied to join in 1961, but this was vetoed by French President Charles de Gaulle. A second application, in 1967, was again vetoed by France.[1] After de Gaulle had relinquished the French presidency in 1969, the UK made a third and successful application for membership. Denmark and Ireland also joined as part of the same expansion.[2]

The question of sovereignty was discussed at the time in an official Foreign and Commonwealth Office document. It listed among "Areas of policy in which parliamentary freedom to legislate will be affected by entry into the European Communities": Customs duties, Agriculture, Free movement of labour, services and capital, Transport, and Social Security for migrant workers. The document concluded (paragraph 26) that it was advisable to put the considerations of influence and power before those of formal sovereignty.[3] The UK's negotiation team in 1970–72 included Con O'Neill and David Hannay.[4]

The Treaty of Accession was signed in January 1972 by prime minister Edward Heath, leader of the Conservative Party.[5] Parliament's European Communities Act 1972 was enacted on 17 October, and the UK's instrument of ratification was deposited the next day (18 October),[6] letting the United Kingdom's membership of the EC come into effect on 1 January 1973.[7]

  1. ^ "When Did Britain Decide to Join the European Union?". UK in a Changing Europe. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference EUED was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ FCO 30/1048, Legal and constitutional implications of UK entry into EEC (open from 1 January 2002 under the Thirty-year rule).[1]
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference BEEC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Into Europe". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  6. ^ "English text of EU Accession Treaty 1972, Cmnd. 7463" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  7. ^ "1973: Britain joins the EEC". BBC News. 1 January 1973. Retrieved 9 March 2016.