New Labour, New Century 2001-7: 4 Tony Blair and Europe Flashcards
what is the ‘third way’?
suggesting the creation of a balance between the left and right extremes
Blair argued for a third way in a speech in Warsaw in 2000, wishing to join those totally committed to the nation state and free market, who wanted the EU to have minimum powers opposite the ‘superstaters’ who wanted the EU to supersede the nation state and have maximum control
what did the EU think of the third way?
more of a notion for home consumption - made little impression on EU ministers and officials who felt no obligation to make concessions to Britain simply because Britain made concessions for them
there was no room for a third way in the EU
what was Blair’s intention for Europe?
super enthusiastic, aware that Major’s talk of Britain ‘being at the heart of Europe’ was unrealistic but wanted to bring Britain and Europe much closer together
Blair pushed for a reform of the CAP, how was it received?
Common Agricultural Policy offering subsidies to French farmers
Blair claimed in exchange for the reform of the CAP that he was willing to accept majority voting and the dropping of the veto principle
France and Germany got together to block any attempts to alter CAP
what happened on New Year’s Day 2002?
the euro became the common currency of all but three of the EU members (Denmark, Sweden and the UK).
whether Britain should join divided Blair and Brown
why did Blair wish to join the euro?
political implications - to join the euro zone would help put the UK at the heart of Europe and enhance his own standing as a European statesman
Blair was prepared to have a national referendum on the issue despite opinion polls showing that British people were currently against the euro as he believed people could be educated into voting yes
why was Brown against joining the euro?
he was more guarded and practical - would joining the euro serve the long-term national economic interest?
Brown came up with 5 economic tests to determine whether joining the euro was a viable option requiring a referendum
Brown declared the euro came nowhere near the five tests
what was the rebate issue?
concern that the size of the annual budget paid by member states to Europe
Britain felt it had been discriminated against from the beginning - disproportionately high
in 2004 the issue came to light as the EU enlarged to include the states of Eastern Europe
Blair told Europe he was prepared to pay its ‘fair share of the costs of enlargement’ but he couldn’t give up its rebate and that he would use Britain’s veto to block any EU attempts to force Britain to do so
UK’s argument was they never received its full rebate - in net terms they had received much less from the EEC/EU than it had paid into it
what did Blair give in to with regards to rebate?
believed CAP and rebate issue were intertwined
Britain gained the least from CAP out of the major member states
Blair did not receive the reform of CAP and Europe closed its ranks against Britain in 2005 and demanded that it increase its budget contributions - Blair complied
in 2006 Britain’s annual contribution rose to £7 billion
Britain also accepted over 3000 EU regulations and directives during 2006
what was the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE)?
brought together the existing EU treaties into one formal, binding document in October 2004
signed in Rome
Blair promised the TCE was ratified by the UK but whether it would be accepted would be put to the British electorate. In 2005 France and Denmark electors had rejected the treaty, the government declared that ratification was now a dead issue (must be ratified by all member states before coming into force in 2006) British referendum did not happen though some were upset they weren’t given the opportunity to vote
Euro-sceptics claimed the gov had reneged on its promise because it knew the TCE would be rejected in Britain
what was the TCE replaced with?
the EU in June 2007 produced a replacement termed a ‘Reform Treaty’ though the treaty was in every major respect the same as the TCE it was not formally a constitution and therefore, did not require a formal ratification
it was signed by the EU members in Lisbon in December 2007 (under Gordon Brown)
British gov declared no need for a referendum
solely a matter for parliamentary approval duly granted in 2008 - gov used majoirty to push it through similar to Major’s gov and the Maastricht Treaty in 1993
