Blair Calls for EU Reforms

In a speech to the European Parliament, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that the European Union must modernize or face failure.

His address, setting out Britain’s priorities for its six-month presidency of the EU, which begins July 1, came a week after a contentious summit that ended in deadlock because of a disagreement between Britain and France over budget reforms. Britain refused to back down on its claim to an annual rebate on its contributions to the EU. France declined to discuss any change to the sizable subsidies the EU pays European farmers.

Blair was scolded by French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and blamed by the outgoing EU president, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, for the summit’s failure.

“This is not a time to accuse those who want Europe to change of betraying Europe,” said Blair, who was both applauded and heckled during the speech in Brussels. “It is a time to recognize that only by change will Europe recover its strength, its relevance, its idealism and therefore its support amongst the people.”

He added: “I don’t think we quite realize in Europe the competitive economic challenge we face today. It is serious, and it is urgent.”

He pointed to Europe’s falling productivity, lack of investment in research and development and low numbers of university science graduates in contrast to Asian countries’ growth in those sectors, particularly in India and China.

Meanwhile, he said, there still are 20 million people unemployed in Europe.

Blair touted increased investment in public services, regenerated cities, a falling poverty level among the retired and children, and a new deal for the unemployed as evidence that Britain was not in the grip of “some extreme Anglo-Saxon market philosophy that tramples on the poor and disadvantaged.”

In a swipe at France, he said that in a modernized Europe, the EU would not spend 40% of its budget to support its agricultural policy.

The failure to reach an agreement on a European constitution, which was recently rejected in French and Dutch referendums, is a sign of discontent among voters who are concerned with the effects of globalization, job security, pensions and living standards, Blair said.

Europe should also be equipped to “take on more missions of peacekeeping and enforcement,” he told the European Parliament. With or without NATO, a European army should “be able to intervene quickly and effectively in support of conflict resolution.”

In that way, he said, Europe would be “an active player in foreign policy, a good partner ... to the U.S., but also capable of demonstrating its own capacity to shape and move the world forward.”