Beginning with a summary of United Kingdom attitudes to the European Community, this article compares the performance of the UK dairy producers and companies with that of other member states, before considering major differences in the national markets, especially as far as the products and consumer habits are concerned. While keeping social and political influences in its sights, the article focuses unashamedly on 1992 and concludes that the UK is not as well placed as other member states to take advantage of the single market.