Sammendrag
This article examines Ireland’s negotiations for membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) during the early 1970s and the issue that came to dominate the Dublin-Brussels accession talks, namely the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Eager to join the Common Market, Dublin was faced with having to accept a deeply flawed and rushed policy that would negatively impact the country’s fishing industry. By exploiting material from Irish and EEC archives, the article explores Ireland’s negotiating strategy, the origins of the CFP, and the tense negotiations between Ireland and the Community over fisheries. Central to the article is the argument that Ireland’s eagerness to join the EEC, almost at any cost, meant that it was left with very little choice but to accept a policy Dublin knew would benefit other states more. Moreover, it highlights how, when if the first enlargement was doomed to succeed, applicants had limited ability to alter the acquis communautaire.
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