UK policy co-ordination during the 1990-91 Intergovernmental Conference

Despite the importance of European Union negotiations, the majority of scholarly attention has not been directed towards the means by which policy is co-ordinated in Member States. This article addresses one aspect of this gap by focusing upon the structures which existed for UK policy-making during the 1990-91 IGC negotiations. Particular emphasis is attached to the key role of officials, who often proved crucial to the extraction of compromises at the European level, and the manner by which policy was constrained by the inability of the Prime Minister to dominate Cabinet.