The Europeanization of UK Government: from Quiet Revolution to Explicit Step-Change?

In this paper we review – from a UK perspective – how the UK government and its policy process have adapted to European integration. Has adaptation been a quiet revolution, a step-change, or both? In exploring this question we draw upon the conceptual literature of Europeanization. We employ it to shed light on the longer-term pattern of UK adaptation as well as to put into context the domestic changes currently under way. Our argument is that a step-change is under way in the Europeanization of the UK government. However, at the end of the paper we will reflect on how this development remains over-shadowed by broader circumstances: the continued weak public support for the EU and the divisions which emerged with key EU partners from the UK's policy over Iraq.