# Britain in Europe

Part of a series of articles on :
UK membership of the European Union (1973–2020) :
Accession
Treaty of Accession 1972
1972 EC Act
1973 enlargement of the EC :
1975 referendum
Referendum Act (results) :
Treaty amendments Single European Act, 1986 (UK ratification) Maastricht Treaty, 1992 (UK ratification) Treaty of Amsterdam, 1997 (UK ratification) Treaty of Nice, 2001 (UK ratification) Treaty of Lisbon, 2007 (UK ratification)
Related:
2011 UK Act on new EU Treaty amendments
EU-related British Acts
Proposed European Constitution referendum
European Union Bill 2004–2005 :
MEPs for UK constituenciesMembers 1973–1979 (elected by parliament)Members 1979–1984 (1979 election)Members 1984–1989 (1984 election)Members 1989–1994 (1989 election)Members 1994–1999 (1994 election)Members 1999–2004 (1999 election)Members 2004–2009 (2004 election)Members 2009–2014 (2009 election)Members 2014–2019 (2014 election)Members 2019–2020 (2019 election)
Women :
Officials and bodies
House of Lords EU Committee
House of Commons EU Committee
Permanent EU Representatives for UK
Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels
EU Representative in London
UK European Commissioners
Department for Exiting the European Union :
Issues and events
Economy
The Euro
Black Wednesday
UK budget rebate
Nationality law
Euroscepticism in the UK
United Kingdom opt-outs from EU legislation
Maastricht Rebels
Balance of Competences Review :
Withdrawal
2015 UK general election
2015–2016 membership renegotiation
2016 EU membership referendum
Vote Leave
Britain Stronger in Europe
Notification of withdrawal
2017 UK general election
Brexit negotiations
Impact of Brexit
Future relationship
Withdrawal agreement
No-deal Brexit
Impact on Irish border
Northern Ireland Protocol
Parliamentary votes
Proposed second referendum
2019 UK general election :
EU portal
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vte :
Until August 2005, Britain in Europe was the main British pro-European pressure group. Despite connections to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, it was a cross-party organisation with supporters from many different political backgrounds. Initially founded to campaign for a “Yes” vote for the euro, it then progressed to support a “Yes” vote for the referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.
The organisation was launched in 1999 by Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Kenneth Clarke, Michael Heseltine and Charles Kennedy. In 2003, the organisation formally linked itself with the Brussels-based, pro-European, international organisation European Movement.
The director of Britain in Europe was Simon Buckby and later Lucy Powell. The director of communications was the Scottish Liberal Democrat politician Danny Alexander.
On 17 August 2005, the group was wound up following the French and Dutch "No" votes on the proposed European Constitution. Its resources were turned over to the European Movement.
A successor pro-EU campaign, founded in 2012, is British Influence.

## Publications

All are PDF files
* Straight Bananas: 201 anti-European myths exploded (543kb)
* There's something about UKIP (223kb)
* The Truth is Out There (865kb)

## Backers

The organisation disclosed the names of individuals and companies from which it received donations of more than £5,000, in line with the requirements of the Political Parties Act, although it was not a political party and was not obliged to do so.

### List of backers

* Amicus
* Alstom UK Ltd
* Rod Aldridge
* BAE Systems
* BMP DDB
* BAT
* Kumar Bhattacharyya
* Winfried Bischoff
* British Midland
* British Telecommunications plc
* Bunzl PLC
* Cookson Group plc
* Dyson Appliances Ltd
* Ernst & Young LLP
* European Movement
* Lord Evans of Watford
* Ford Motor Company
* Chris Gent
* Christopher Haskins
* Lord Hollick
* Lord Howe of Aberavon
* ICL PLC
* Kellogg's
* Kimberly-Clark Ltd
* KPMG
* Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge
* Mind share UK
* Nestlé (UK) Ltd
* Gulam Noon
* Lindsay Owen-Jones
* Philips Electronics (UK) Ltd
* PricewaterhouseCoopers
* Reuters Group PLC
* Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust
* Lord Sainsbury of Turville
* Colin Sharman, Baron Sharman
* Siemens AG PLC
* Barry Townsley
* Adair Turner
* UBM plc
* Unilever PLC
* Xerox Ltd
* Wrigley UK Ltd