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June 15, 2005
Tony Blair And The Reality of Europe
James Kirkup at Scotsman.Com describes how a "bright-eyed" British Prime Minister Tony Blair "got real over Europe." He wrote in a June 15, 2005 article:On Friday [June 17, 2005], already scarred and weary from bruising visits to Germany, Luxembourg and France, Mr Blair will enter the chamber of the European Council building on the Rue de la Loi in Brussels knowing he is outnumbered 24 to one, preparing to cast his defiance in the faces of leaders he once cultivated as friends and now works to divide and undermine.
This particular battle is being fought over old ground, the British "rebate" (actually just a reduction in our membership fee) from the EU budget. It isn't just the rebate, though. The whole row over money has, of course, been triggered by the slow, shambolic demise of the EU constitution. And whatever Mr Blair's feelings about that document at its birth, he was undeniably jubilant at its death, even if diplomatic prudence prevents him from saying so. Mr. Kirkup said, "Even before the last rites were read over the treaty, Mr Blair was sounding distinctly cool on the European project in its current form. In a speech many Conservatives could - and did - admire last month, he admonished Brussels for over-regulating. For good measure, he even threw in an entirely fictional case of an English playground closed by European red tape." Here's more of Mr. Kirkup's analysis.
Posted by Munir Umrani at June 15, 2005 06:46 AM
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