Publications
Blair's Britain, England's Europe - A View from Ireland
Outsider – Opportunist – Late Joiner – Gambler – Leader?
What role will Britain play in its future relationship with the European Union? And what will be the implications for the Union, and for Ireland? The authors of this study follow on from their scenario-building work, published by the IIEA in 1996, and analyse the European policy options, as viewed from Ireland, of a very different UK government. Thatcher’s Britain as awkward EU partner has been transformed into Blair’s Britain under New Labour that seeks to play a leading role at the core of an enlarging Union. Or so it claims, and probably wants to – but will the British electorate give Blair the time and the opportunity to win over middle-England? Will Labour’s Third Way carry the next general election and square up to a euro referendum?
This study is broken down into four broad sections. The first covers the UK Labour project in the round. The second identifies England as the source of Britain’s perennial problem with adopting a European identity, and deals with European policies in general and the newly prominent security and defence dimension in particular. The third section examines the implications of Blair’s Britain for the now interdependent relationship between Britain and Ireland. The final section offers a synthesis, and conclusions are drawn for Britain’s long-term perspective on Europe and the likely consequences for Ireland. Britain as Outsider would be the most malign scenario for Europe and for Ireland. Britain as Leader would be the most benign with certain reservation from Ireland’s point of view about the possibility that a directoire of large member states might emerge and that collective defence might move up the EU policy agenda.
The authors, from political, academic, business, media and public-affairs backgrounds, have had close involvement with EU policy-making and Britain’s role in Europe. They admit that “since policy is always open-ended it is the actions of decision-makers which are the stuff of policy analysis” and offer their views fully aware of the difficulties inherent in plotting a moving target. They conclude that the degree of uncertainty over Britain’s future governance makes it all the more essential to develop a range of scenarios that cover the main probabilities and to identify their more important strategic implications – for Britain, for Britain’s involvement with Europe, and for British-Irish relations.
Price: € 19 (Hard copy)