Europe, more than a market less than a state: the conflicting visions of Margaret Thatcher and Jacques Delors

Abstract

The antipathy between Thatcher and Delors is examined, in particular their socio-economic divide and its influence upon their conflicting visions of the future of the EC. Thatcher was a neo-liberal realist with an inherent distrust and suspicion of the EC; she equated it with her domestic attack upon the post-1945 Keynesian consensus. She was divided from Delors over many issues, including national concepts and the US relationship; however, underlining this division was her vision of a total Europe-wide free market, with little regulation to hinder market forces. She saw the SEA as a vital step in the creation of her vision of the EC - a stateless market. Delors, the personalist and pragmatic socialist, had a contrasting vision of Europe. His philosophy was critical of liberalism in that it put community before individuality; he supported protection, wanted regulation in the market, and believed everybody should be helped, especially the agricultural community for which he had a near spiritual affection. He saw the SEA as a stage in the development of EC integration; the Delors' package, EMU, the social dimension and political union were all part of his vision of the creation of state-like structures to avoid the stateless market. That was when the division with Thatcher could be clearly seen and became more personal. Thatcher and Delors were the extremes of the debate; the more realistic way forward for the EC appeared the middle way with inter-governmental bargaining slowing integration, making Europe more than the pure free market visualized by Thatcher but less than the more integrated state which was the dream of Delors.