Rocky relations between Britain and Europe

1946: In aftermath of World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill calls for recreation of European family, providing it with “a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom... a kind of United States of Europe”

1957: Britain declines invitation to join six founding nations of European Economic Community (EEC) in signing Treaty of Rome 

1961: With its own economy suffering continuous economic decline, Britain sees France and Germany posting strong post-war recovery and applies to join EEC

1963: Le Grand “Non” – French President Charles de Gaulle vetoes British membership on basis that UK government lacks commitment to European integration

1967: De Gaulle vetoes Britain’s second application

1973: Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath finally leads Britain into what is now EC, after de Gaulle leaves office

1975: Britain votes “Yes” by resounding 67% in referendum on EEC membership

1979: European Monetary System introduces Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), intended to harmonise currency values ahead of creating single currency. All members join except UK

1994-95: EU agrees to launch single currency, Euro, in Jan 1999

1984: After five years of argument over spiralling budget costs British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wins rebate of UK’s contribution to European budget, famously demanding “I want my money back”

1988: In speech that has become seminal text for Eurosceptics, Thatcher rejects “a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels”

1980s: Divide between Britain and Brussels grows as Commission President Jacques Delors steers towards more federal Europe

1992: Treaty of Maastricht, transforming EC into European Union (EU), signed. New British premier John Major secures opt-outs from single currency and social chapter

Sep 16, 1992: Britain forced out of ERM – which it had entered in 1990 – after massive rises in interest rates fail to stem run on pound “Black Wednesday” and its impact on economy causes wide public antipathy in Britain towards monetary integration

1997: Prime minister Tony Blair’s new EU-friendly Labour government announces five tests Britain must pass before joining euro

1999: Euro is launched. Britain is among countries that do not adopt currency

2011: Under Prime Minister David Cameron, Britain vetoes planned fiscal discipline treaty to resolve eurozone debt crisis, provoking ire of EU partners

2013: Cameron announces plans to renegotiate terms of Britain’s EU membership and put terms to referendum by end of 2017

2015: Cameron’s Conservatives win surprise election victory, clearing way for early referendum

Jun 23, 2016: Referendum held

Source: Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
Pictures: Associated Press, Getty Images