The UK idols and the EU institutions (original) (raw)

This essay was written before the Lisbon Treaty came into force, but the European Constitution was rejected by way of referendum in France and the Netherlands. Keeping an eye on any sign of federalism, I tried to unveil the most striking peculiarities of the British legal and political culture> the symbols, the institutions, the idols, with the Queen above all else. In the second part, I have drafted a comparison to the EU institutions and legal system, seeking for possible common characteristics or, on the contrary, on their main divergence aspects/. Despite the fact that the interwar period acknowledged a UK's leading position and interest in the European unification projects, even for the federal variant, London has been reluctant to all the steps that followed the end of the world confrontation. The strong feeling of "otherness" together with that of greatness, coming out of Britain's proven capacity to oppose Hitler by itself for such a long time, turned to be strong reasons for them to believe they deserve at least, a leading position on the continent. For the entire the British performance meanwhile the war, they expected to be fully recognized as primum inter pares if not in a (morally, at least) hegemonic position. But Plan Marshall's requisites for some kind of united Europe as well as France's decision to cooperate with the Western part of Germany, left the British leaders alone not only on their island, but in their utopian dream. Instead of realizing a European unity against Germany, they were watching how Germany was supported both by the US (from whom UK expected largest assistance) and by France (which Churchill invited to set an anti-German alliance with). In this new context, the British leaders had to decide whether to accept an alliance and, thus, cooperation with their former enemy or to reinvent their entire foreign politics. The failure of The Free Trade European Association as well as the dissolution of the British Commonwealth placed the Westminster government in a very delicate position. "From a political point of view, the British space is a distinct part of the world-nor European, nor Asian, nor African, nor Australian or American, but simply, Britain. Its cohesion is not owed to any geographical connections, but to the community of language and culture of the dominant nation, as well as to the wisdom of its leaders." 2 Being so close related to its (ex-) colonies, The United Kingdom proves too large to be part of European Union, although its