He went into he Lion’s Den and told the European parliament that the continent had to liberalize its economy, reduce its absurd agricultural subsidies and reform itself to become more democratic. And guess what? Many agreed. Is the tide turning? Money quote:
Italian politicians hailed Tony Blair’s vision of Europe, and declared that a new ‘Rome-London axis’ would provide the driving force of the new EU, replacing the exhausted Franco-German motor. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, said last night: ‘Europe must reform, as Prime Minister Blair says, and I am in total accord with him.’ Piero Fassino, leader of the Democrats of the Left, the main opposition party, said that Mr Blair was charting the way for Europe. Antonio Polito, editor of the left-wing review Reformista, said: ‘The European Left must understand that it cannot remain attached forever to the Franco-German idea.’
Most worryingly for President Chirac and Herr Schröder is that their own countries’ newspapers fell under Mr Blair’s spell. The left-wing French newspaper Libération declared in its headline: ‘Blair’s new deal for Europe.’ Its veteran Brussels correspondent, Jean Quatremer, said: ‘For a long time, we have been talking about the French social model, as opposed to the horrible Anglo-Saxon model, but we now see that it is our model that is a horror.’ The country’s most influential newspaper, Le Monde, backed Mr Blair’s demand for a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), calling for the partial ‘renationalisation’ of farm aid so that EU countries pay part of the subsidies themselves. The paper declared that the only way to find the funds needed for EU research and technology was to cut spending on agriculture.
My admiration for Blair grows. He’s the best Tory prime minister currently available. Maybe he’s on the verge of becoming a Tory EU president. Here’s hoping.
The Dish 