New Labour and the European Union: Political strategy, policy transition and the Amsterdam Treaty negotiation

This title was first published in 2002. This book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on the UK-EU relationship and on the development of the Labour party since Tony Blair became leader in 1994, providing a detailed examination of the process of policy-making undertaken by Labour in relation to the 1996-97 intergovernmental conference (IGC) of the EU. It tracks policy development from opposition to government, culminating in the conclusion of treaty negotiations at Amsterdam in June 1997. The book moves beyond the existing literature in providing an original account of policy-making based on internal party and government sources. It highlights a ‘New Labour’ approach to the EU - set in place by the time of the Amsterdam summit and characteristic of the Blair government’s European policy thereafter - and suggests that this approach represents both continuity and change with previous UK governments and a break from the European social democratic perspective that had been central to Labour’s previous pro-European conversion.