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Originally Posted by Peregrinus
I dunno. The UK already had its noisy eurosceptics and was noted for having hissy fits and demanding special treatment even before the development of the Single Market and the transition to from EC to EU. In fact the UK was a major driver of at least the first of these developments, and has benefitted hugely from it. And the second development was pretty much necessary, if the first was to be subject to any kind of democratic control. It's not difficult to make the case that, but for these developments, matters might have come to a head sooner and the UK might have left earlier.
Not a huge amount of evidence for this thesis, outside the UK.
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Getting off topic, but Denmark’s 1992 rejection of Maastricht signalled this new era for many people. You can see other example in referenda like the French and Dutch rejection of the EU constitution.
The Lisbon Treaty was off course the modified version of the constitution. No referenda were held to approve it, except in Ireland where it was a legal requirement. We voted No, then Yes in a 2nd referendum.
People love to frame things in black and white, but life is much about shades of grey. I’m not saying people are anti-EU, just uncomfortable with its direction.