Thatcher and Europe

1988 cartoon by Cummings

Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) was the Conservative British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. She saw “Brussels” as having excessive power…

In 1980, she called for the UK's contributions to the EEC to be adjusted: "I want my money back!" she exclaimed. She did get a rebate, but relations with European partners became strained after that.

Mrs Thatcher, having signed the 1986 Single European Act, commented: "Advantages will indeed flow from that achievement well into the future."

1988 cartoon by Cummings

In her controversial 1988 "Bruges speech", Mrs Thatcher declared: "We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels".

In October 1990, Mrs Thatcher agreed to join the ERM. That same year, Jacques Delors, the president of the European Commission, had proposed a reform of EU institutions. Thatcher, fearing more interference by Brussels, responded at the end of October by saying to the House of Commons: "No. No. No." Within a few weeks, her anti-EU views led her party to force her to resign.

In 2002, Thatcher wrote: "Most of the problems the world has faced have come from mainland Europe, and the solutions from outside it."

The European project in the years 2000

May 1, 2004 cartoon by Chapatte celebrating European enlargement

In 2001, the Treaty of Nice was signed. It was intended to improve the Maastricht Treaty and bring greater democracy to the European institutions in anticipation of further enlargement: one Commissioner from each member state; the weighting of votes in the Council (i.e. the bigger the country in terms of population, the more votes it has at the European Council).

The Euro became the new currency for eurozone countries in 2002.

During 2003, the member states did not act in a concerted manner regarding the Iraq War, showing up the lack of influence of the EU in international relations (basically, each country continued to act on its own).

2008 cartoon by KS

In 2005, the project for a Constitution, elaborated by a team headed by Valérie Giscard d’Estaing, was rejected by the French and Dutch in referendums, putting a brake on political integration. However, enlargement went ahead in the same year: ten east-European countries from the former Soviet bloc joined the EU. This added 75 million new citizens. Their integration was not easy as their standard of living was very low, though some countries, such as Poland, have made spectacular progress. In 2007, Romania and Bulgaria also joined.

The Great Recession which started in 2008 undermined the efficacy of the Euro.

The 2009 Lisbon Treaty was intended to modernize EU institutions to better cope with enlargement. 

The British continued to want a market-oriented EU, whereas the French and Germans a more powerful, federal, Europe.