Remembering Bruges

"The fact is things are going our way: the democratic model of a free enterprise society has proved itself superior; freedom is on the offensive, a peaceful offensive, the world over for the first time in my lifetime. We must strive to maintain the United States' commitment to Europe's defence. That means recognizing the burden on their resources of the world role they undertake, and their point that their Allies should play a full part in the defence of freedom, particularly as Europe grows wealthier. Increasingly they will look to Europe to play a part in out-of-area defence, as we have recently done in the Gulf."

When Prime Minister Blair reversed himself last week and called for a referendum to ratify the European constitution, we pulled out a copy of the speech Prime Minister Thatcher gave at Bruges, Belgium, back in 1988, as Britain was at an earlier fork in the road in respect of European union. It was one of the greatest moments of her career.

Mrs. Thatcher made it clear she was unwilling to have Britain submit absolutely to centralized power in Brussels. She argued that union made sense only if the model being pursued were of willing cooperation between sovereign states and the European Community were open to changing its statist models, encouraging free enterprise, and abjuring protectionism. And, she emphasized, were it prepared to stand fast on defense, uttering her famous words, "never fail, never falter."

There's been a lot of water under the bridge since Mrs. Thatcher spoke. Soviet communism has been vanquished. NATO is enlarged. The first Gulf War erupted within three years of her speech, and now we are in a new world war in which the Gulf is but one of the theaters.

The countries that were the leaders of Europe at the time Mrs. Thatcher spoke at Bruges — France and Germany — are have been joined in their pursuit of an appeasement line by Spain. The stalwarts now include Italy and a free and democratic Poland, and Britain has emerged as the lead of the lists, as it did in 1939 and several times since, in defense of freedom.

A poll for the London Sunday Telegraph disclosed over the weekend that that Britons are likely to vote overwhelmingly against the European Constitution.

We'd like to think they are animated not only by the prospect of losing sovereignty over the details of their culture and economy but also by the rift that has opened with France, Germany, and Spain over the war. In any event, the American interest clearly lies in Britain pursuing the independence that caused it to stand apart from Europe so often.

At Bruges, Mrs. Thatcher made a point of acknowledging the cultural debts Britain owes to Europe. But she made it clear she grasped that the real glory of Britain has come from standing apart.

Fifteen years before the the decision now pending on a European Constitution, Mrs. Thatcher asserted that the British approach "does not require new documents." Let Europe "be a family of nations, understanding each other better, appreciating each other more, doing more together but relishing our national identity no less than our common European endeavor," she said.

Then she uttered the famous words: "Let us have a Europe which plays its full part in the wider world, which looks outward not inward, and which preserves that Atlantic Community — that Europe on both sides of the Atlantic — which is our noblest inheritance and our greatest strength."