Anglo-American Special Relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anglo-American Special Relationship - Essay Example Since Britain joined the then European Community in 1973, it has had an uneasy ride with its European partners. The relations have often been turbulentï‚ § Since Britain joined the then European Community in 1973, it has had an uneasy ride with its European partners. The relations have often been turbulentThe UK’s membership in the European Union (EU) that have a self-proclaimed goal of â€Å"ever closer union† was suggested by Rachman (2001) is a question that mattered more in London than in Washington. The US also have special relations among other countries such as Israel, Canada, Mexico (Wright, 2002), Japan and, also the EU.  Economically, there was a difficulty in totally integrating in to the European Union despite the low economic growth in Britain due to the high value of the pound making Britons believe that economy is doing well even while outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).   The UK shares 15.3 percent of export to the US while it has considerable larger export to the EU members Germany, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy at around 50 percent. UK also lists Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, China, and Italy along with US (9.3 percent) as its leading import partners.While the US lists Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, along with UK (4.4 percent) as its export partners, it has only Canada, China, Mexico, Japan and Germany as its leading import partners.The British have had their national sovereignty slowly eroded by EU laws and regulations.   While mainland Europe such as Germany rates 43.6 to 56.6 percent and France's rate is 41.6 percent, the UK taxes only about 20 percent considered the lowest in the European Community (Expatica, 2005) making Britons Euro-sceptic as former president of Germany's Central Bank announced "A European currency will lead to member nations transferring their sovereignty over financial and wage policy, as well as in monetary affairs. It is an illusion to think that states can hold on to autonomy over