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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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07038900.055
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1990-09-22
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WORLD, Page 29THE COMMUNITYNew TimesThatcher down, Greens up
Although elections for the European Parliament may still be
more symbolic than substantive, the balloting shattered British
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's image of invincibility last
week. Her Conservative Party suffered its first national defeat in
nearly 15 years, capturing only 34.7% of the vote and losing 13 of
its 45 European Parliament seats. By contrast, the left-leaning
Labor Party totted up 40.2%, stirring dreams among Laborites of
ousting Thatcher from power at home.
In West Germany, Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democrats
received a blow as the new right-wing Republican Party, led by a
former sergeant in Hitler's Waffen-SS, won 7% of the vote by
capitalizing on fears of competition from foreign workers.
Elections for the Strasbourg-based assembly, once consigned to
the status of a European debating society, are fast becoming a
bellwether for European politics. Thatcher aides sought to downplay
the Tory defeat by arguing that the culprit was domestic discontent
with Britain's 15% interest rates and 8.3% inflation. Even critics
within her own party scoffed, blaming her Britain-first,
anti-European rhetoric at a time when Europe is moving toward
economic integration in 1992. Said a Tory backbencher: "She got it
drastically wrong."
Across Western Europe, the biggest gains were won by Green
parties, which nearly doubled their representation, to 39
delegates. The environmentalists thus hold the balance of power in
the 518-seat chamber, ensuring that their issues will be high on
the European Community's agenda. West Germany's well-established
Green contingent will be joined by delegations from other E.C.
countries, including France and Italy. In Britain the Greens
captured an impressive 15% of the vote but no seats because Britain
does not have a proportional-representation system.
As E.C. leaders hold their first postelection summit in Madrid
this week, the big question is whether Thatcher's weakened position
will cause her to be more conciliatory on two key proposals: a
social charter intended to safeguard workers' rights and, more
important, the eventual establishment of a single currency managed
by a European central bank. Emboldened by the erosion of Thatcher's
political strength, her fellow summiteers may decide to press on
toward European unity, whatever her objections.