Great Britain – Renegade or Saviour of the European Union?

This work analyses development of economic and politic relationships of Great Britain with the European Communities (EC) and the European Union (EU) since the beginning of European integration till the contemporary debt crisis of the Eurozone. It deals with British European policies before and after Britain's accession to the EC and puts emphasis on British influence over negotiations about the main policies and institutional changes of the EC and EU, as well as on British internal views on European integration, first of all on often misunderstood British euroscepticism. From the analysis of historical and contemporary data author infers not only possible scenarios of the future relationship between the Great Britain and Europe, but also the influence of this member state on the development of the EU.