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a c ha nce-maybe thei r
onfy
chance-to regain sorne of the power
and infiuence they once enjoyed!
Thus began the Continent's eco–
nomic resurrection from the grave–
yard of war.
Free-Trade Area
But a major problem hindered fur–
ther progress.
Tariffs, import quotas and other
trade restrictions kept t he nations
of Western Europe from trading
freely with each other. An automo–
bile manufactured in West Germa–
ny, for example, could not be sold
in France or Italy witbout payment
of a high tariff. This raised the
price of the automobi le to non-Ger–
man buyers and thus limited the
market for that automobile.
The next logical step was there–
fore to knock down the tar iff walls
that d ivided the six Westero Euro–
pean countries in the Community
and Jet goods move freely from one
country to another. This, propo–
nents declared, would expand the
markets of member nations and
ipcrease their economic efficiency.
With the signing of the Treaty of
Historie moment of the signing of the
Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957
(above). Gaston Thorn, President of
the Commission of the European
Communities (right). Posters
promoting the European Parliament
and Council of Europe (far right).
6
Rome on March 25, 1957, just
such a plan was launched. The
European Economic Commun ity
( EEC)-popularly called the Com–
mon Market--officially carne into
operation on January 1, 1958. Its
six charter members were the same
countries associated in the ECSC.
Another author ity, the Eu ropean
Atomic Energy Commu ni ty
(EAEC or Euratom), was created
at the same time for the joint
exploitation of atomic energy for
peaceful pu rposes.
Al! three Communities-the
ECSC, EEC and EAEC-are
today administered by tbe same
governing institu tions. The collec–
tive term European Community (or
EC) is now used as a colloquial
shortband for the three.
ln J anuary 1973, three new
members were added to the trading
Community: the United Kingdom,
Denmark and Ireland. Greece
joined in 1981, bringing the num–
ber of members to 10. (Negotia–
t ions are under way to add Portugal
and Spain.)
Today, at its headquarters in
Brussels, Belg i um, more than
10,000 Eurocrats administer th is
huge 10-nation free-trading area.
In the years since its inception, the
Comm u nity has become the
world 's largest trading bloc. And it
has created a vast network of pref–
erent ial trading agreements with
dozens of nations worldwide.
" Uni t ed States of Europe"
But the business of the E uropean
Community is not just business.
Although the EC's fie ld of
action is largely economic, its
founders' aims were essent ially
political. From the start, European
planners envisioned the Communi–
ty as the nucleus of a future politi–
cal "United States of Europe" with
a centralized pol itical authority.
Economic integration would be
on ly the start. The ultimate prod–
uct would be an entirely new
polit–
ical
entity!
Many, even in those early years,
saw the Community evolving into a
strong politico-economic power, a
European counterweight to Soviet
Russia.
And indeed, strides
have
been
made over the years in the política!
arena. In June 1979, for example,
voters in the EC member nations
went to the polls to choose, for the
fi rst time,
directly e/ected
represen–
tatives to the enlarged and strength-
ened European Parliament in
Strasbourg, France. This
was an enormous mile–
stone in European history.
But the old nemesis of
self-centered nationalism
still impedes progress. As
yet, the EC's decision–
making inst itut ions are
invested with few substan–
tial powers. Only minimal
surrender of national sov–
ereignty has taken place.
Nat ional self-interest
still dictates gove rn–
ments' posi tions in EC
negotiations, notably in
the area of agricultura!
policy. Quarrels over how
the EC spends its money
have even prompted sorne
observers to suggest the
<
possibility of a Common
~
Market
coflapse!
1
The EC faces a series
~
of cr ucial decisions in the
tli
(Continued on page 43)
The PLAIN TRUTH