The Thatcher Revolution by Earl A. Reitan

Author:Earl A. Reitan
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781461645825
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2013-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

The Movement for European Unity

Major’s main goal was to unite the Conservative Party. To satisfy the people who had led in the overthrow of Thatcher, he needed to reverse her contentious relationship with the European Community. On the other hand, he had to look “tough” to satisfy many members of his party whose attitude toward Europe was skeptical or negative.

When Major took office in November 1990, Jacques Delors’s plans for closer European union were well advanced. In Germany in March 1991, Major stated effusively that for his generation “Europe was a cause of political inspiration.” He added that his goal for Britain was to be “at the very heart of Europe.” He hedged by adding that “Europe is made up of nation states,” but this Thatcherite expression was overlooked. Commentators assumed that Major intended to signal a break with Thatcher’s confrontational approach to Europe.

In December 1991, the Council of Ministers met at Maastricht in the Netherlands to approve a treaty that would convert the European Community into the European Union. Delors brought forth his proposals for a federal Europe with a common foreign policy and defense, a common currency, and a Social Chapter that called for uniform social policies and costs.

Major was well aware that resistance was building at home to closer involvement with Europe. He insisted on the principle of “subsidiarity,” which meant that policy should remain as much as possible at the level of the member states. He declared that Britain could accept the treaty only if it could “opt into” the single currency at a time of its own choosing, leaving the other eleven members to proceed with the project. Without its own currency, he argued, Britain could not control the money supply, interest rates, and other elements crucial to the British economy. He flatly rejected the Social Chapter, which involved high labor costs that, Major insisted, Britain could not afford. Nor would he agree to a common foreign policy and defense.

The Maastricht conference was Major’s first great foreign policy test, and he succeeded to the satisfaction of most of his countrymen. After intense negotiations, Major was given his “opt in” on the single currency. The Social Chapter was excluded from the treaty and converted into a separate agreement signed by the other members. Britain chose to “opt out.” To the dismay of Jacques Delors, Major also succeeded in removing the word “federal” from the clause calling for a closer union.

When Major returned from Maastricht, his performance was hailed as a triumph. The House of Commons declared its approval, although seven Tories voted against the treaty and Thatcher abstained. Major had been pro-European enough to satisfy one wing of his party, and “tough” enough to satisfy the other. Britain signed the treaty in February 1992. With an election approaching in April, Major thought it best to keep Europe out of the campaign, and he deferred parliamentary action on the treaty until later in the year.

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