Schröder-Blair paper

The Schröder-Blair paper is a draft for a modernisation concept for European social democracy, which Gerhard Schröder and Tony Blair presented in London on 8 June 1999, a few days before the European elections.

The title of the document is "Europe: The Third Way" (German: Der dritte Weg) in its English version and "The Way Forward for Europe's Social Democrats" (German: Der Weg nach vorne für Europas Sozialdemokraten) in its German translation. The Schröder-Blair paper was written by then-Chancellery Minister Bodo Hombach and Blair's confidant Peter Mandelson.^[1]

In it, new social democratic positions and models of a third way between neoliberal or economically liberal capitalism and classical social democracy were formulated under the slogan New Centre against the background of Thatcherism and the Kohl era and with reference to the structuration theory of Anthony Giddens.^[2]

It proclaims the principle "Justice is modern." The authors emphasize that values such as fairness, social justice, freedom, responsibility for others, equal opportunities, and solidarity are timeless. A core statement of the document is: "We support a market economy, but not a market society."

The aim of the concept is the fundamental modernization of the social democratic program. Overall, the paper addresses a more business-friendly orientation, a reform of the social systems, and the flexibilization of labor markets. The authors emphasized the need for a pragmatic, rather than ideological, economic policy. The competitive pressure between economies resulting from globalization was emphasized.^[3] The draft was a step towards the development of Agenda 2010 in the restructuring of the labor market in Germany and already showed great similarities with the Agenda.^[4]

After the SPD lost the European elections and state elections in several federal states in the 1999 election year, the positions in the paper were officially abandoned.^[1]

The Schröder-Blair paper was perceived by the German public as a confirmation of the course of the British Labour Party (New Labour), but as a change of course for the German SPD and was attacked by the SPD left, in particular by the former SPD chairman Oskar Lafontaine, who had just resigned at the time.^[1] The program paper was accused of postulating a contrast between pragmatism and ideology that was epistemologically dishonest. The Schröder-Blair paper elevated the thesis that globalization-induced competitive pressures, and thus large parts of the economy, were beyond political control to an axiom. It uncritically adopted the perspective of transnational corporations and accepted neoliberalism as a given. Ultimately, it was a proclamation of social democracy's rejection of the working class.^[3] The paper was accused of adopting conservative and liberal positions and overlooking the growing gap between rich and poor in Britain. Only in its call for support in the low-wage sector did it deviate from neoliberal principles.^[5]

In the British press, however, the connection with the European election campaign was highlighted, which provided the background for the publication of the paper.^[6][2][7] Conservatives highlighted the significant differences between Great Britain and Germany, as well as between the already “reformed” New Labour and the SPD, which was described as more traditionally close to the trade unions,^[6] while from a more pro-Labour perspective, similarities between the two countries were emphasised, particularly in the social sector (the British NHS and the German social system).^[7] Liberals objected that the “Third Way”, a concept that was developed by Anthony Giddens in his book of the same name with a view to the social conditions after the end of the Thatcher government, always contained an authoritarian element.^[2] The paper talks too much about solidarity and too little about freedom.^[2]