Suchergebnisse

The title of this article is taken from the opening lines of Hugo Young's brilliant history of Britain's relationship with Europe, This Blessed Plot. That book begins with a sentence that says it all: 'This is the story of 50 years in which Britain struggled to reconcile the past she could not forget with the future she could not avoid.' Those words were written in the spring of 1998. Despite the early promise of Tony Blair's European policy, little has changed since. For France and Germany, the institutions of Europe represent a uniquely successful attempt to exorcise the past. For its part, Britain lives in the shadow of its history.The struggle to reconcile national identity with strategic interests is as acute as it has ever been. For all that Mr Blair's government has done something in recent years to make Britain's case in Europe, it has failed to make Europe's case in Britain.

Under the leadership of Tony Blair, GB has begun to rebuild its relationships with the rest of Europe, but the reaction of the British people to this has been ambivalent. While Margaret Thatcher left office barely on speaking terms with her contemporaries on the continent, & John Major was treated with pity, Blair has spent his energy making friends. Also, Blair has moved the power from the Foreign Office to the Cabinet Office, putting foreign relationships at the top of his agenda. Blair has also pushed GB's involvement in Europe's single currency, but success in this matter remains in question. R. Larsen