Networks and Actors: Foreign Office Attitudes Towards European Integration, 1957-73

The history of Britain's relationship with Europe is one which has received significant attention from scholars and laypeople alike, especially in recent times. It has been explored from a wide range of angles and perspectives, all of which offer unique insights into what has often been characterised as an awkward or reluctant relationship. This thesis' contribution employs a specific focus on the attitudes of Foreign Office officials towards European integration in the years 1957-73, and the ways in which these attitudes shaped the foreign policymaking process. The role which Foreign Office officials played in Britain's approach to membership of the EEC was extremely significant, and their attitudes had a profound impact on the policymaking process. In certain cases, these attitudes conflicted with those of their political masters and resulted in serious struggles and confrontations in the corridors of power.

This study will examine four case studies in Britain's approach to European integration in the years 1957-73, which cover the most critical junctures in the Foreign Office's approach to European integration across this period. In each case study, the attitudes and actions of the officials most intimately involved in European policy will form the main focus, including an in-depth analysis of how their attitudes had been shaped through their own formative experiences. It will become clear that officials' attitudes towards European integration were exceptionally diverse and were not reflective of a rigid departmental orthodoxy. Foreign Office personnel were increasingly recruited from a wider base of social and educational backgrounds and this in turn created a diplomatic service containing a broad range of views. However, a gulf in attitudes between the elder and younger generations of officials became increasingly evident, with the latter being much more receptive to the principles of European unity after their experiences of the Second World War. The result was a department which increasingly viewed membership of the EEC as the future of Britain's foreign policy strategy.