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I studied at the College of Europe for a semester in the '70's when it was still EEC, the ECSC, and Euratom, and only 9 nations.

One of the architects of the ECSC, Frenchman Jean Monnet, said: "I never understood why the British did not join. I came to the conclusion that it must have been because it was the price of victory - the illusion that you could maintain what you had, without change."

The UK opposed the ECSC, insisting "the Durham miners won't wear it" But in-between those two events there has been a lot of history.