Selling Washing Machines in Düsseldorf

There was a rapid decline in British World trade networks in the decade between 1961, when Macmillan’s government announced the UK’s first attempt to join the EEC, and the confirmation of its entry in 1972. Wilson’s subsequent renegotiation of Britain’s membership only won minor concessions for Commonwealth imports. British enthusiasm for EEC membership largely derived from a belief that it provided the best basis for future economic prosperity. By the late 1960s there was certainly little sense that the Commonwealth could provide valuable future markets, which would compensate for Britain abandoning its ongoing efforts to join the EEC.