This Routledge Focus aims to investigate and analyse the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Communities (EC) and the European Union (EU). Since joining the EC in 1973, the UK has had a fraught relationship with the organization, declining closer economic union in the eurozone and, often, arguing against closer political union. While some 67% of the UK’s voters opted to remain in the EC in a referendum held in 1975, by June 2016 a narrow majority favoured leaving the EU. This volume evaluates the UK’s journey into the Union, and examines how the country’s voters came to decide on Brexit, and where the UK’s departure from the EU may lead it. Julie Smith is Director of the European Centre, POLIS Department, Cambridge University, and Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge. She is also a member of the United Kingdom House of Lords. 1. Introduction 2. The Origins of European Integration: Emerging Lines of (Dis-)engagement 3. Winning and Losing: money, power and the politics of treaty reform 4. Leaving the People Behind 5. Seeking to reconcile Conservatives and Coalition 6. Cameron’s Three Rs: Reform, renegotiation, referendum 7. Where do we go from here? Postscript References Index