John Major - Raise Your Eyes

John Major, « Raise your eyes, there is a land beyond »

This text is a article written by John Major which was published in The Economist newspaper on 25th September 1993. John Major became Prime Minister on 28th November 1990 after Margaret Thatcher left the election. Before he was elected Prime Minister, he held the post of Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the governement of Margaret Thatcher. He was also the leader of the Conservative Party. Being Prime Minister for John Major was uneasy as he had to face a period of difficult political and economic events. He was involved in the peace process in Northern Ireland. But the most important measures he had to face was to put the Pound out off the Exchange Rate Mechanism after Black Wednesday. The governement did not succeed to keep the Pound at an acceptable rate level. Moreover, the European question was important as one year before, the Maastricht Treaty has been discussed. The European membership has always been a source of controversy in Britain as the Conservative Margaret Thatcher and some others were Eurosceptic. John Major, in this text tries to find solutions to the European crisis of confidence and efficiency. He exposes his pros and cons of the European membership of Britain but the necessity to find an European unity as well in order to be strong on the international scene. So to what extent can we say that John Major was aware that with the growing importance of the European Community it was neccessary to adopt a pragmatic European policy ? In a first part, I will deal with a British dimension on European membership, what kind of benefits Britain had but also the fears of John Major towards this European membership and I will end in a second part about the debate on the European Community which occured with the Maastricht Treaty and how John Major radicalized his position towards Europe.

I. The United Kingdom in Europe : Benefits and fears

II. Debate on the European Community : Criticism of Maastricht Treaty

I. The United Kingdom in Europe : Benefits and fears

In 1973, The United Kingdom became a member of the European Economic Community under Edward Heath premiership. The principal interest was the economy and remain it strong. John Major assessed the results of this membership as being positive for Britain as I quote « The community is still the best means of advancing Britain's interests, political and commercial ». Actually if Britain wanted to be part of the EEC, it was to make its economy prosperous « and after 20 years of membership, the overall balance sheet is positive ». This European membership was to put in place a free market and to guarantee competency and so to assure a growing economy for Britain. John Major affirmed that even if there are disadvantages to be part of the EEC like contributing to an European budget, these disadvantages were counterbalanced by British economic benefits and European political stability. John Major could not say the same about British politics because European membership was well criticized among Conservatives and the opposition.

Being a member of the EEC has economic pros but also political cons for John Major. Actually, the Conservatives were used to be supported of « the European Community as a way of securing peace, ensuring stability and increasing standard of living » but the Conservatives always were opposed to « the centralising idea » which means to see the British power in the hands of Brussels. He refused the idea to see the European Union discussing on British issues. He wanted Britain to remain the master of its proper domestic policy. He also referred in this text to « the financial cost of their membership ». In the EEC, Britain has to pay contributions and Major as Margaret Thatcher did before him wanted the European Union to give Britain its money back. Moreover, John Major spoke with a radical tone. He did not accept the fact that the pound had to be

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