The Anglo-French “Beef War” and the Rise of British Euroscepticism

Abstract

The recent history of Britain’s relations with the rest of Europe has, as often in the past, been a troubled one. Eurosceptic feelings in the UK grew steadily from the 1980s onwards. The result of the 2016 referendum in favour of Brexit can be seen as the culmination of this tendency. Britain’s difficult relationship with the EU has often focussed on a particular difficulty in Franco-British relations and it is France that has often been seen in the UK as its most significant adversary in Europe. Between the two countries there is a long history of conflict and rivalry that is easily reignited. There are also fundamental differences in the ways the two countries consider food and agriculture. All these elements came together in the so-called Anglo-French “beef war” in the 1990s and 2000s. The BSE, or “mad cow” disease, quickly extended beyond the farming sector becoming a serious public health crisis in the UK, in Europe and around the world. It also had a direct impact on Britain’s relations with the EU and with France in particular. Euro-sceptics in the UK very effectively seized on this crisis to denounce the EU. On both sides doubts about the UK’s commitment to its membership of the EU steadily increased. As such the Anglo-French “beef war” was a significant episode in the series of events and the gradual deterioration in the relations between the UK and the EU that led up to Brexit.