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In this course, we will have the opportunity to explore key moments in our relationship with the EU starting with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community and the Treaty of Rome. We will look at the political and economic reasons for our decision to seek membership and how this was viewed both within the UK and also within the Community. We will explore the background to the referendum in 1975 and examine the factors which led people to vote to stay in the Community. Later sessions will focus on the Thatcher years and the Single European Act. Debates around the Maastricht Treaty and the rise of Euroscepticism will be examined and analysed together with the decision to opt out of the Euro and its implications. How did the expansion of the EU in the 2000 affect the EU and what were its implications for British politics? Lastly we will examine the road to Brexit and examine the factors which led to the result in 2016. Having left the EU what is the future relationship with them now and what are the long term implications for both Britain and the EU?