ABSTRACT
The Venice European Council in June 1980 was, thanks to the settlement negotiated by Peter Carrington and Ian Gilmour, spared yet another row over the Budget. Margaret Thatcher, for her part, reminded Schmidt that, at the Luxembourg European Council, she had pointed out that it would not be fair to ask Germany to pay substantially more to the Community budget than she did already. Germany, as a divided and central European power would, the FCO believed, be more wholehearted in its pursuit of its national interests as the inhibitions of the post-war period receded. Reporting to the Bundestag on the Maastricht European Council, Schmidt told German Parliamentarians that he shared the bitterness of German fishermen. Reginald Hibbert’s forecast was borne out by Mitterrand’s debut at the European Council in Luxembourg at the end of June 1981. In the margins of the European Council, Thatcher and Mitterrand held their first meeting.
