The British attitude towards UK accession to the EC On 22 January 1972, in Brussels, the British delegation signed the Treaty of Accession to the European Communities. Eleven years had passed since the first letter was sent in August 1961 by the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, to Ludwig Erhard, President-in-Office of the Council of Ministers of the European Community, informing him of the British Government's wish to begin negotiations on the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities. From the first official application in 1961 to the final signing of the Treaty of Accession to the European Communities, you will discover in this Album original British documents which will explain the lengthy process of the United Kingdom's accession to the EC.