The UK and Lisbon

Abstract

In examining the case of Britain and the Lisbon Treaty, this chapter proceeds as follows. First, it begins by setting the domestic context within which the IGC negotiations took place. Second, it discusses the British position in the period after the failure of the Constitutional Treaty. Third, it reviews the strategy adopted by Britain during the German Presidency, which culminated in the agreement on an IGC mandate at the Brussels European Council of June 2007. Fourth, it looks at the outcomes that were agreed to at Lisbon during the Portuguese Presidency. Finally, it concludes by arguing that the record of Britain’s engagement in the Treaty of Lisbon is symptomatic of the lack of coherence in the framing of Britain’s European foreign policy and the inability of the Labour government to establish a constructive European policy that is informed by more than just knee-jerk reactions to satisfy Eurosceptic domestic interests.