European Movement UK
| Formation | 1949 |
|---|---|
| Type | Pressure group |
| Headquarters | London |
| Location | |
Official language | English |
President | Paddy Ashdown |
Key people |
Kenneth Clarke John Pinder Baroness Joyce Quin (Vice-Presidents) |
| Website | www.euromove.org.uk |
The European Movement UK is an independent pressure group in the United Kingdom which campaigns in support of greater European integration and for reform of the European Union. It is part of the European Movement International.
The current President of the European Movement UK is Paddy Ashdown and the current chairman is Laura Sandys. The organisation promotes a "more democratic, effective and accountable" EU.
History
The origins of the European Movement lie in the aftermath of the Second World War. More than eight hundred delegates from across Europe gathered in The Hague in May 1948, under the chairmanship of Sir Winston Churchill, to create a new international movement to promote European unity and prevent further wars between its members. The British section of the European Movement was founded a year later.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the European Movement was funded by the CIA.[1] America regarded it essential to rebuild Germany as an industrial power under the cloak of the peaceful EEC to stand as a bulwark against Soviet Russia in the Cold War. The European Movement put forward the arguments for the United Kingdom joining the European Economic Community, and campaigned in support of membership in the 1970s. During the UK's European Communities membership referendum in 1975, the organisation was involved within the 'Yes' campaign.
Other campaigns since then have included pressing for direct elections to the European Parliament in the 1970s and promoting the benefits of the single market in the run-up to 1992.
See also
References
- ↑ Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose (19 September 2000). "Euro-federalists financed by US spy chiefs". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 February 2016.