98

The United Kingdom and the European Constitutional Treaty UK action with respect to the Constitutional Treaty is instructive and paradoxical. Regarding the former, the way in which its preferences were formulated challenge the contentions of liberal intergovernmentalism, the main theoretical approach in the field. With respect to the latter, New Labour adopted a positive and constructive approach that distinguished its conduct from that of previous governments, but its failure to engage domestic public opinion undermined its achievement of a 'British Constitution' and, though saved from holding the referendum that it had promised, the government succeeded only in alienating its European partners abroad and allowing Europsceptics to win the debate by default at home.