ABSTRACT
In the 1980s, European politics moved in a largely synchronous shift to the right. There were different variants of the shift – at one extreme, Margaret Thatcher’s very ideological drive; at the other, the socialist President Francois Mitterrand’s abandonment of his original program and his reluctant engagement with reality after 1983. The Single European Act of 1986 provided for the removal of remaining capital controls in the European Community. The Single European Act was accompanied by institutional measures intended to shift some of the power from nation-states to the European institutions. Major industries and banks were nationalized, the minimum wage was increased, social benefits were raised, the working week was reduced, and a fifth week of paid holidays was added. Europe and European integration were driven by an increased concern of European politicians to play a new role in world politics and to move away from the too-powerful embrace of American interests.
