Editing History of the United Kingdom (section)

===Common Market (EEC), then EU, membership===
{{Main|Accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities|1973 enlargement of the European Communities}}
Britain's wish to join the Common Market (as the [[European Economic Community]] was known in Britain) was first expressed in July 1961 by the Macmillan government. It was vetoed in 1963 by [[French President]] [[Charles de Gaulle]].<ref>John Newhouse, ''De Gaulle and the Anglo-Saxons'' (1970), p. 226.</ref> After initially hesitating over the issue, [[Harold Wilson]]'s Labour Government lodged the UK's second application (in May 1967) to join the Community. Like the first, though, it was vetoed by de Gaulle.<ref>Andrew Moravcsik, "De Gaulle Between Grain and Grandeur: The Political Economy of French EC Policy, 1958–1970 (Part 2)." ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 2#3 (2000): 4–68. [http://www.princeton.edu/~amoravcs/library/grandeur2.pdf online]</ref>

In 1973, with de Gaulle gone, Conservative Prime Minister Heath negotiated terms for admission and Britain finally joined the Community. In opposition the Labour Party was deeply divided, though its Leader, [[Harold Wilson]], remained in favour. In the 1974 General Election the Labour Party manifesto included a pledge to renegotiate terms for Britain's membership and then hold a referendum on whether to stay in the EC on the new terms. This was a constitutional procedure without precedent in British history. In the subsequent referendum campaign, rather than the normal British tradition of "collective responsibility", under which the government takes a policy position which all cabinet members are required to support publicly, members of the Government (and the Conservative opposition) were free to present their views on either side of the question. A [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|referendum]] was duly held on 5 June 1975, and the proposition to continue membership was passed with a substantial majority.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499297.stm. 1975: UK embraces Europe in referendum] BBC On This Day</ref>

The [[Single European Act]] (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 [[Treaty of Rome]]. In 1987, the Conservative government under [[Margaret Thatcher]] [[European Communities (Amendment) Act 1986|enacted it]] into UK law.<ref name="closer">{{Cite news |title=Ever closer union? The UK and Europe |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2001/uk_and_europe/1979_1990.stm}}</ref>

The [[Maastricht Treaty]] transformed the European Community into the [[European Union]]. In 1992, the Conservative government under [[John Major]] ratified it, against the opposition of his backbench [[Maastricht Rebels]].<ref name=closer/>

The [[Lisbon Treaty]] introduced many changes to the treaties of the Union. Prominent changes included more [[qualified majority voting]] in the [[Council of the European Union|Council of Ministers]], increased involvement of the [[European Parliament]] in the legislative process through extended [[Codecision procedure|codecision]] with the Council of Ministers, eliminating the [[Three pillars of the European Union|pillar system]] and the creation of a [[President of the European Council]] with a term of two and a half years and a [[High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy]] to present a united position on EU policies. The Treaty of Lisbon made the Union's human rights charter, the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights]], legally binding. The Lisbon Treaty led to an increase in the voting weight of the UK in the [[Treaty of Lisbon#Council of Ministers|Council of the European Union]] from 8.4% to 12.4%. In July 2008, the Labour government under [[Gordon Brown]] approved the treaty and the Queen ratified it.<ref>{{Cite news |title=UK ratifies the EU Lisbon Treaty |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7511281.stm}}</ref>