From the beginning, the Conservative Government has believed in getting a fair deal for Britain in Europe. You cannot have a club with only two of the members forever paying the bills. The costs must be more fairly shared if the club is to thrive.
At the same time, there has got to be firm control of spending if the cost of running the club is not to soar out of control and threaten to bankrupt it.
So we are doing three things.
First, we have negotiated for Britain refunds worth £2½ billion. £2 billion has actually been repaid to us already. The Community is committed to paying us the rest.
We got these refunds because of tough bargaining. Some people, like the Alliance Parties, think we are too tough. My answer to them is—if we'd been less tough we'd have got less for Britain. Other people, like the Labour party, seem to think that refunds of £2½ billion are not enough. Well, it's £2½ billion more than Labour got. [end p1]
Secondly, we are at last hammering out a long-term system of finance, fair to all members, to prevent this haggling each year. That's real progress.
Third, we are taking steps to bring the Community's spending under firm control. In their manifestos, the other Parties show no interest in controlling spending—although they've got plenty of proposals to increase it.
Only the Conservatives have achieved progress on these three things. The next stage is the European Heads of Government meeting at the end of June where we shall be working for further progress.
Once the arguments about subscription costs are out of the way we will then be able to concentrate on creating the kind of Community we want—a strong Community, an effective Community, a Community with a common purpose, based upon a truly common market. Only in this way can Europe attain its full stature in the world, and become the powerful influence for liberty and peace that we wish it to be. [end p2]
(2) Conservative Party Archive: ‘Highlights’:HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT CONSERVATIVE CENTRAL OFFICE
Mr John Selwyn Gummer was in the Chair, accompanied by Mrs Margaret Thatcher, The Prime Minister; Sir Geoffrey Howe, Foreign Secretary; Mr Michael Jopling, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Mr Ian Stewart, Financial Secretary to the Treasury; and Lord Douro, Conservative MEP and spokesman on the European Budget.
The theme of today's Press Conference being the Community Budget, the Prime Minister said that Britain had received £2 billion of refunds so far, with another £450 million due by the end of this year.
“We are now negotiating for the long term, and that means not just for three years or for an ad hoc scheme but for a scheme of refunds which lasts for as long as the problem lasts,” she said.
There had been no strict control on public expenditure in Europe in the past, she said, and that could not go on. “We expect to apply the same measured discipline to finance in Europe as we do at home,” she added.
Britain was one of only two members of the Community paying the bills and the costs must be more fairly shared if the Community was to thrive, the Prime Minister said. The refunds negotiated so far had come because of tough bargaining. “Some people, like the Alliance Parties, think we are too tough. My answer to them is that if we had been less tough we would have got less for Britain. Other people, like the Labour Party, seem to think that refunds of £2.5 billion are not enough. Well, it is £2.5 billion more than Labour got,” she said.
Asked whether she felt sure that Britain would receive the £450 million due this year, the Prime Minister replied that the refund having been negotiated at Stuttgart under Chancellor Kohl 's chairmanship, she did not believe that he would be willing to see either his personal chairmanship or that of Germany being flouted, which would be the effect of our not receiving that money.
Asked whether she was confident that there would be a budget settlement, Mrs Thatcher replied, “The matter can be settled if our partners are willing and ready to settle it. We went a long way at Brussels to get a settlement.”
Interest In Euro Elections
The Prime Minister was asked why there was a general lack of enthusiasm for the European Elections, why people were bored by them and whether a low poll would be a reflection of those feelings.
Mrs Thatcher replied, “In part, the fault lies with the Press, who have as much interest as anyone in getting the public interested in these affairs. In any event, as with our own general elections, interest is only now beginning to manifest itself. That is what we are finding in the constituencies.” [end p3]
Mrs Thatcher pointed out that across all the centre right parties in the European Parliament, only 28 seats needed to be lost for that centre right majority to be lost. This was why it was important for Conservatives to vote in these elections. Mr Selwyn Gummer added that whereas the efforts of the Conservative MEPs had resulted in VAT on food being blocked, the Labour MEPs had not even bothered to attend the crucial debate at which that was done.
Labour's Scare on VAT on Food
The Prime Minister repeated her earlier statement that Labour's scare on VAT on food was “absolute poppycock.” She added, “They are up to their old tricks. They do not dare have the spotlight put on their policies.”
Mr Gummer described Labour's statement on this issue as “an outrageous allegation.”
Interest Rates
Answering a suggestion that the Government were doing everything possible to ensure that interest rates did not go up before Euro polling day, the Prime Minister said that in hoping to keep interest rates down, Britain could point to the extent and rate of recovery we had achieved, particularly in the last five years.
Investment in Britain was up by 11.5%; and the RPI and monetary aggregates were on course in relation to the Budget. In spite of everything, interest rates in Britain were still below those in the United States, which was a considerable achievement on our part.
Unemployment
Asked to comment on last week's unemployment figures, the Prime Minister said that she was always disappointed if a fall in the underlying position was not revealed by the figures. “However, productivity is still rising rapidly and that augurs well for the future.”
One had to bear in mind the demographic fact that between 1978 and 1984, there were more than 1 million more people of working age due to the number of school leavers being greater than the number of those retiring. We were achieving more jobs but they were not having an impact because of that demographic imbalance.
Mr Gummer pointed out that because of the Conservatives strong commitment to Europe, many firms were coming to settle here, so providing jobs. That would not be the position under Labour, many of whose candidates were opposed to our membership of the EEC. He said that following his challenge last week to Labour candidates to nail their colours to the mast, as many as 70 Labour candidates did not support Britain's membership of the Community. “There would be no point sending them to the European Parliament because they would try to undermine it,” he added. [end p4]
Domestic Issues
Several domestic issues were raised at the Press Conference, with emphasis being given to the Coal strike.
The Prime Minister said that the NCB had laid out its economic needs for the future. The British taxpayer was already giving £1.3 billion in subsidies to the board. “We have created the framework for the future of a prosperous coal industry, but that prosperity is being hindered by the fact that some uneconomic pits remain open.”
The cost of producing a tonne of coal in an uneconomic pit was £89 whereas it was £28 in an economic pit. The coal was mixed, and that process brought the average price up considerably.
“We must close the uneconomic pits in the interest of the future of the coal industry, and such closures are always achieved with local consultation at the area level. The details are, however, a matter for the NCB,” she said.
Asked whether she would like to see the NUM being taken to court, Mrs Thatcher replied, “Whether a nationalised industry or a private sector industry chooses to use the law which is available under the trade union Acts is a matter for the industry concerned.” Only the industries concerned had all the evidence on which to judge on whether to go to court. “That is not a matter for the Government to override,” she added.
Mr Healey
A questioner said that Mr Healey had this morning claimed that the Government were trying to shuffle off responsibility for what he described as forthcoming increased interest rates in Britain onto the United States.
Mrs Thatcher warned journalists not to pay too much heed to Mr Healey. “Let us bear in mind what Denis Healeyhe landed us in—for example, with the IMF—during his Chancellorship. Does he really have any credibility?” she added. “We are still repaying the cost of Healey to Britain.”
Mr Stewart commented, “The strength of the UK economy is such now that interest rates here have not risen by as much as in the US, and both our short and long-term sterling rates are lower than the Euro dollar rates. That is a measure of the way in which we have been able to manage the strength and independence of our economic base.”