Turning the tide?

Date: 02/07/1998

When British government ministers and officials handed over the reigns of EU business to their Austrian successors this week, they almost certainly did so with a mixture of relief and regret.

Relief because of the onerous workload which goes with the EU presidency and regret because most of those closely involved in Union affairs relish the challenges which a spell in the Union's hot seat presents.

Their performance over the past six months has received mixed reviews, but most agree that Prime Minister Tony Blair only seriously blotted his copybook once - at the euro summit in May when he was blamed for the bitter and highly public battle over the appointment of the first president of the European Central Bank - and many put that down at least in part to Franco-German attempts to stitch up a deal in advance without involving Blair, forcing him on to the sidelines until the crunch came.

There was also some anger, tinged with wry chuckles, at the activities of London's notorious spin doctors, most notably when they issued a list of 45 achievements of the British presidency in its first three months in charge which contained such notable successes as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Margaret Beckett making a speech about the importance of modern businesses.

One of the British government's genuine successes, however, has more to do with the UK's relationship with the rest of the EU in the longer term than any progress on more immediate issues.

When the UK took charge of Union business in January, major question marks still remained over whether last year's change of administration really did herald a change in the British attitude towards Europe or in fact amounted to little more than rhetoric.

Six months later, some of those question marks remain, but it is no longer the issue that it was. The UK is now seen as behaving far more like every other member state, adopting a positive tone towards Europe while fighting fiercely to defend its corner when national interests are at stake.

Whether UK Foreign Minister Robin Cook is right when he claims that the presidency has helped show ordinary member of the British public that Europe can be a positive influence on their lives remains to be seen.

If the change in rhetoric and the UK's high profile on the European stage for the past six months has indeed begun to turn the tide of British public opinion, that will have far more profound consequences for the EU than any of the presidency's much-heralded achievements - genuine or otherwise.