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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, OCTOBER 2, 1981
PAGE 7
The British represent even more of an obstacle.
Former British Prime
Minister James Callaghan puts it this way: "We should put firmly and pub
licly to one side the long-standing idea that the objective of the Commu
nity is a federal Europe to which member countries would agree to surrender
their powers. That idea has been, and is, an obstacle to progress. I have
seen enough of discussions in the fCommon Market) Council of Ministers to
know that the guiding precept for them all is the national interest."
Further driving this point home is a comment by Sir Ian Gilmour, Lord Privy
Seal in the U.K. government. He states: "We have not got a federation,
either tight or loose, with Europe and we are not aiming to get a
federation. The EEC is a collection of nation states. we have accepted no
greater controls than either France or Germany and nobody could say that
they behave as if they have lost control of their national destinies. Of
course, they have not, neither have we."
The Common Market's political stagnation was graphically revealed in a
segment on America's "60 Minutes" news telecast in the U.S. a number of
months back. It focused on the European Parliament, the legislative arm of
the Community which was expanded--but hardly strengthened--by its first
directly-elected representation in the summer of 1979.
The activities of the European Parliament hardly deal with substantive
issues. On one occasion the "60-Minutes" camera panned a nearly empty·
assembly hall where a lone Dutch representative was arguing the "weighty"
issue of how much water to permit in canned chicken!
The Common Market has not gotten much beyond wrangling over food prices and
product standardization. Yet all this haggling costs an enormous amount of
money simply to provide interpretation and translation of all speeches and
documents into seven official languages--French, German, Italian, Dutch,
English, Danish and now Greek, too.
Viewing this wasteful spectacle, the "60 Minutes" commentator, Morley
Safer, asked his audience: "Where are the European greats of the past?
Where are the von Bismarks, the Wellingtons, the van Habsburgs? Well, in a
way they're still with us." Then the camera focused on three contemporary
Europarliamentarians--descendants of Otto van Bismark, the Duke of Welling
ton, and of the Habsburg line, in the person of Dr. Otto von Habsburg. I
couldn't help wondering what lessons Dr. van Habsburg is learning as he
sits in parliament, day in and day out, witnessing such fruitless debates.
Surely he must be thinking that this is not the way to unite Europe!
The sad state of Europe's unity drive is revealed in an excellent article in
the August 8, 1981 issue of the NEW YORK TIMES. Entitled "The Impotence of
Europe," it was written by Flora Lewis, the TIMES top diplomatic correspon
dent. Here are key excerpts:
PALAMOS, Spain--Gaston Thorn, the new President of the Common Market's
Commission, is from Luxembourg. Like many Europeans, he has a vaca
tion house in Spain, near the Costa Brava, and it is a good place to
reflect on the continuing quarrels and frictions which prevent consol
idation of the European Community ••.•
Mr. Thorn is certainly well equipped for his new job. But he's in for
trouble and he knows it. One of the ironies of Europe is that it keeps