After years of stalling by Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, her 11 partners in the European Common Market decided Friday to move toward unity without her if necessary.
The decision, at the opening of the Common Market's semiannual summit, left Britain more than ever on the fringe of the European Community and in danger of being left behind as the continent moves toward a united Europe.The 11, led by French President Francois Mitterrand, voted to meet next year to amend the Treaty of Rome, the Common Market's constitution, to pave the way to economic and monetary union, including a single European currency.
Then the same 11 adopted the Social Charter, a document that provides for workers' rights in industry, including unionization. Thatcher, outvoted, said Britain would attend the constitutional conference but would try to use its veto to block monetary union.
Similarly, she rejected the Social Charter, which is a statement of principles without legal force, and said she would fight to block adoption of the measures it proposes.
Thatcher thinks economic and monetary union would undermine British sovereignty and flatly rejects them. By contrast, the 11 acknowledge they would be giving up some sovereignty but accept this as the price they must pay to create a united Europe strong enough to compete with America and Japan on world markets.
Economic and monetary union would come in three parts.
The first part would finish the current 1992 Project, which calls for eliminating frontiers between the Common Market nations and Britain's entry into the Common Market's currency alignment.
The next two stages would create a single currency, a single central bank and common budgetary policies, potent steps toward a United States of Europe.
Thatcher has grudgingly accepted the first stage but rejected the last two.