British Policy to Europe

• Reference:GB 254 MS 420/10
• Dates of Creation:2003-2012
• Name of Creator:
  Sir William Nicoll
• Physical Description:
  1 folder

• Scope and Content

  Various printouts and papers on British policy to Europe. Includes: Pages 2-6 on a paper which discusses the history of Britain and European relations, entitled 'An Idea of Europe', up to June, 1957 Printout of photograghs of the members of the Barroso Commission, 2010-2014 Printout of article from the Fox Business website, 'What it Means to Change the EU treaty' by Reuters, December 2011 Printout of document which seems to contain Britain's aims for various issues, including education, relations with the EU, civil liberties and the environment. has been annotated so that the focus is on relations with the EU Newspaper clipping from The Times, 'Yes to Treaty Change - but Only on Our Terms' by David Cameron, December 2011 Email to Nicoll from European Briefing, about a banking union, December 2012 Printout of an apparent time table for the European Banking Union, discussing a European Central Bank and European banking Authority Annotated printout from the European Union webpage Printout of the Official Journal of the European Union webpage, 2003 Printout of Civitas: EU Facts webpage, 'European Economic and Social Committee', 2012 Printout of publicserviceeurope.com style guide Printout of email from Nicoll to kentishgazette@thekmgroup.co.uk entitled 'More Flag Fury', 2008 Miscellaneous printouts on the subject.

• Administrative / Biographical History

  Born in Dundee, Sir William Nicoll was an only child. Growing up in a tenement, his father was a joiner. He attended Morgan Academy, then won a scholarship to University College, Dundee, which was then part of the University of St Andrews.
  Nicoll passed the civil service exams and moved to London in 1949 to join the Board of Trade. Married Helen Morison in 1954, at the same time he became Editor of The Reel, a post he held in 1954 and 1955. The next year he was posted to Calcutta as trade commissioner, cutting short his editorship. Within ten years he had risen to become private secretary to Douglas Jay, the Labour heavyweight whom Harold Wilson had appointed president of the Board of Trade.
  From there Nicoll was seconded to the Foreign Office and served 20 years as one of the UK's senior men in Brussels. He became familiar with the French language and had a narrow escape from an IRA letter bomb while there.
  Nicoll rose to become Director General of the Council of the European Communities, and was knighted in 1992. In retirement, he lectured, edited the European Business Journal, wrote books on the European Union and advised candidate countries hoping to join it.
  Sir William was a lifelong teetotaller, and keen Scottish country dancer.

• Access Information

  Open for consultation subject to preservation requirements. Access must also conform to the restrictions of the Data Protection Act (2018), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2018) and any other relevant legislation or restrictions. Clinical information is closed for 100 years.

• Note

  Born in Dundee, Sir William Nicoll was an only child. Growing up in a tenement, his father was a joiner. He attended Morgan Academy, then won a scholarship to University College, Dundee, which was then part of the University of St Andrews.
  Nicoll passed the civil service exams and moved to London in 1949 to join the Board of Trade. Married Helen Morison in 1954, at the same time he became Editor of The Reel, a post he held in 1954 and 1955. The next year he was posted to Calcutta as trade commissioner, cutting short his editorship. Within ten years he had risen to become private secretary to Douglas Jay, the Labour heavyweight whom Harold Wilson had appointed president of the Board of Trade.
  From there Nicoll was seconded to the Foreign Office and served 20 years as one of the UK's senior men in Brussels. He became familiar with the French language and had a narrow escape from an IRA letter bomb while there.
  Nicoll rose to become Director General of the Council of the European Communities, and was knighted in 1992. In retirement, he lectured, edited the European Business Journal, wrote books on the European Union and advised candidate countries hoping to join it.
  Sir William was a lifelong teetotaller, and keen Scottish country dancer.

• Archivist's Note

  Description compiled by Joy Naomi Ramsay, Archives Volunteer, 16/04/2018

• Conditions Governing Use

  Reproduction is available subject to preservation requirements. Charges may be made for this service, and copyright and other restrictions may apply; please check with the Duty Archivist.

• Accruals

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• Additional Information

  Published