Towards the end of the 1950s with the decline of the British Empire, political opinion rapidly shifted towards the view that trade with Europe was more important to the future of the United Kingdom rather than the historical preferential trading with the Commonwealth nations, which resulted in its attempts to join the European Communities (E.C) (the Common Market) which was formed in 1957. The UK government devalued the pound sterling in November 1967 from £1 = $2.80 to £1 = $2.40. This was not welcomed in many parts of the sterling area, and, unlike in the 1949 devaluation, many sterling area countries did not devalue their currencies at the same time. This was the beginning of the end for the sterling area. The Basel agreements of 1968 were designed to minimise flight from sterling to the US dollar within the sterling area. On 22 June 1972 Britain imposed exchange controls on the sterling area, with the exception of Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Crown dependencies in the Channel Islands. At the same time, Britain floated the pound sterling. According to Chancellor of the Exchequer Anthony Barber, this was to halt a recent increase in capital outflow to other parts of the sterling area.