Etude de document - Margaret Thatcher - Union Européenne

It was not right that half the total Community budget was being spent on storing and disposing of surplus food. Now those stocks are being sharply reduced. It was absolutely right to decide that agriculture's share of the budget should be cut in order to free resources for other policies, such as helping the less well-off regions and helping training for jobs.

But we cannot rest on what we have achieved to date. For example, the task of reforming the Common Agricultural Policy is far from complete. Certainly, Europe needs a stable and efficient farming industry. But the CAP has become unwieldy, inefficient and grossly expensive. Production of unwanted surpluses safeguards neither the income nor the future of farmers themselves. We must continue to pursue policies which relate supply more closely to market requirements, and which will reduce over-production and limit costs. Of course, we must protect the villages and rural areas which are such an important part of our national life, but not by the instrument of agricultural prices. Tackling these problems requires political courage. The Community will only damage itself in the eyes of its own people and the outside world if that courage is lacking.

 Il n'est pas juste que la moitié du budget communautaire total soit consacrée au stockage et à l'élimination des excédents alimentaires.

Aujourd'hui, ces stocks sont fortement réduits.

Il était tout à fait juste de décider que la part du budget consacrée à l'agriculture devrait être réduite afin de libérer des ressources pour d'autres politiques, telles que l'aide aux régions les moins bien loties et la formation à l'emploi.

Mais nous ne pouvons pas nous reposer sur ce que nous avons accompli jusqu'à présent.

Par exemple, la réforme de la politique agricole commune est loin d'être achevée.

Certes, l'Europe a besoin d'une agriculture stable et efficace.

Mais la PAC est devenue lourde, inefficace et extrêmement coûteuse. La production d'excédents non désirés ne garantit ni le revenu ni l'avenir des agriculteurs eux-mêmes.

Nous devons continuer à mener des politiques qui établissent un lien plus étroit entre l'offre et les besoins du marché et qui réduisent la surproduction et limitent les coûts.

Bien sûr, nous devons protéger les villages et les zones rurales qui représentent une part si importante de notre vie nationale, mais pas par l'instrument des prix agricoles.

S'attaquer à ces problèmes exige du courage politique.

La Communauté ne se nuira aux yeux de ses propres citoyens et du monde extérieur que si ce courage fait défaut.

Was the demand of Margaret Thatcher to reform the European public spending, a European attitude, to improve the European Community work OR a nationalist position, to defend the British interests?

The Bruges speech was delivered by the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, on 20 September 1988 at the College of Europe in Bruges, in Belgium, to nearly 800 people. This is the beginning of a tour during which she takes the opportunity to present her vision of Europe, explaining how it must evolve if it can have a chance to succeed. In her speech, Europe must operate according to the cooperative method, must be the tool for creating the common market and the Member States must place themselves in an internationalist logic. Margaret Thatcher mainly addresses her European partners by warning them that their choices for Europe are not the right ones, but her speech also has a certain internal use. It is therefore intended to be persuasive, its objective being to impose a new doctrine for Europe.

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