The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, brought his "I am a good European" campaign to the European Parliament yesterday with a speech that was in sharp contrast to the relationship that existed between the MEPs and British governments from 1979 until the political demise of Mr Major a year ago.
"I am pro-Europe without hesitation," Mr Blair told MEPs as he gave an account of his stewardship as President of the EU for the past six months. When he mentioned the euro, one or two MEPs shouted "join, join" and there was also a brief intervention from a French MEP who shouted "assassin". No one understood why. But the new European Tony told the Parliament that things had changed, changed utterly back in Britain, and that change had taken place in just one year.
"The days of the beef war, 14 against one, government positions ravaged by warring factions in the governing party, are over," he said.
"To those British Conservative MEPs who have organised dissent against the presidency in the European Parliament, I would simply say: `Thank your for your interest, but we remember when your party was in charge,' and we don't want those days back again, not for Britain and not for Europe."
He then outlined the two strands of opposition to Europe in Britain.
One strand was utter opposition on straightforward nationalist grounds. "The second strand is different. It can support the EU but it worries about its direction and actions. This strand of opinion must be engaged with. We must understand its concerns.
"It fears Europe is too centralised, too remote and its economic policy too caught up in regulation. Such concerns do not, in my view, justify being anti-Europe, but they merit being addressed. "I am pro-Europe without hesitation, but I am anti the status quo. We need economic and political reform," he said.
For the next hour and a half, Mr Blair listened to praise and criticisms of his presidency. The most persistent criticism was that during the crisis in Iraq he was closer to the Americans than to the rest of Europe. Mr Blair said he was proud of the co-operation with the US, which led to the resumption of weapons site inspection in Iraq. He told Scottish nationalist MEPs he supported devolution in his own country. "But," he said, "I will always stand out against narrow-minded nationalism."
Many MEPs praised Mr Blair for the Northern Ireland peace agreement. He in turn praised not only the Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, but also the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, for their part in it.