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Since David Cameron's announcement for a referendum on the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union widely reinforced Britain's reputation as a 'eurosceptic' and difficult Member State. This Chapter explores the 'English paradox', i.e. the United Kingdom's ever-present demands for EU reforms paired with a relative compliance when it came to the ratification of the successive European treaties. It first deals with the Cameron's demands for reforms in order to fix the UK-EU relationship and avoid a withdrawal from the EU. It then looks back at the reforms which had already been put forward by the previous Prime Ministers during the negotiations related to the adoption of the European treaties. Finally, it explains the British internal procedure for the ratification of the European treaties and how the specific political system involves the English paradox. The conclusion puts into perspective the aforementioned elements and the United Kingdom's 'eurosceptic' image. ; Peer reviewed

Since David Cameron's announcement for an 'in/out' referendum, Britain's membership of the European Union has been in jeopardy. This recent crisis in the UK-EEC/EU relationship is far from being the first one. Indeed, the UK has acquired the reputation of a difficult Member State since his accession in 1973. My dissertation explores this relationship throughout the different crises that occurred under the successive premierships in order to answer the following research question: is the current crisis surrounding Cameron's 'in/out' referendum a structural or a situational phenomenon? To that end, the dissertation body is divided into three parts. Part 1 deals with the legal and practical possibilities of withdrawal from the EU. Part 2 is a journey through the past UK-EEC/EU relationship with a focus on the crises and the reforms demanded by the former Prime Ministers. Part 3 focuses on the current crisis, exploring Cameron's demands for reforms and comparing them with three other party leaders' demands before the 2015 general election.