University of Languages and International Studies - VNU

LANGUAGE ENG2052

Group 2a:
Vũ Th Thanh Tâm – Nguy n Ph ng Anhị ễ ươ
Đàm Thanh Hoài – Tr n Thúy H nhầ ạ
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Brexit – Background information and non-economic arguments
1. A brief history of British Euroscepticism
1.1. What is British Euroscepticism?
There is no official definition for this term, even in Cambridge and Oxford
dictionaries. However, Euroscepticism can broadly be defined as sceptical or
negative attitudes towards the EU and the process of European integration (Taggart
1998)1,
Therefore, British Euroscepticism can be understood as a continuum of belief
ranging from the opposition to certain political policies of the European Union to
the complete opposition to the United Kingdom’s membership of the European
Union.
1.2. A brief history of British Euroscepticism2
In a nutshell, the history of British Euroscepticism is a series of moves that
show Britain's hesitancy and lack of cooperation before and after joining the EU.
Because, while expecting the benefits of free trade in Europe, the UK does not want
to pay the price of the steady creep of EU powers and regulations, into the justice
system, the workplace. And Brexit is the most obvious expression of British
Euroscepticism.
- The UK did not join the EU in the first place:
After the World War II (1945), Winston Churchill spelled out his vision to
recreate the European family, but he did not see Britain as being at its heart.
Successive British governments, Labour and Conservative, then stood back as
France and Germany led the way, forming the European Coal and Steel Community
in 1951 and then the European Economic Community in 1957.
- The UK wanted to join the EU:
1 Taggart, P (1998), “A Touchstone of Dissent: Euroscepticism in Cont