Roy Jenkins and the European Commission Presidency, 1976 –1980

Piers Ludlow has taught European history at the London School of Economics, UK, since 1998. His research centres on the history of European integration – and on Britain’s difficulties with it.  Previous books include Dealing With Britain: the Six and the First UK Application to the EEC (1997) and The European Community and the Crises of the 1960s: Negotiating the Gaullist Challenge (2006).

Introduction. - 1. The Very British Trajectory of a Pro-European: Roy Jenkins and Europe prior to 1976. - 2. Preparing for Brussels: Priorities, Personalities and Portfolios. - 3. Growing into the Role: the battle to secure G7 representation. - 4. Finding a Sense of Direction: Jenkins and the launch of the European Monetary System. - 5. Reaching out beyond the Community: Enlargement and international representation. - 6. The Search for a New Policy Priority: Commission reform, Direct Elections, Agriculture, and Energy. - 7. The Curse of British Politics: Thatcher, the British Budgetary Dispute, and the Lure of Domestic Politics.

“Any reader already familiar with Ludlow’s work would have high expectations for the book, and it does not disappoint. It is, of course, timely in the context of Brexit. … Ludlow highlights the definite pattern of awkwardness in Britain’s relations with Europe and that self-harming tendency to overestimate hugely British capacity to influence and to underestimate the capacity of her European partners to move right along without the UK.” (Denise Dunne, English Historical Review HER, Vol. 133 (564), October, 2018)