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BUT WHO SPEAKS FOR EUROPE?
ACONVERSATION WITH
J.
ROBERT SCHAETZEL
J .
ROBERT SCHAETZEL served six
years as U. S. Ambassador to the Eu–
ropean Community, or Common M ar–
ket, until October 1972. He retired
from governmental service one
month later, having served the State
Department for 27 years, much of
the time as a specialist on At lantic af–
fairs and international trade. Mr.
Schaetzel has many close friends in
Europe and is widely recognized and
appreciated on the Cont inent asan
American who understands the Euro–
pean view on the many sensitive is–
sues affecting the Atlantic Alliance.
He is presently writing a book under
the auspices of the Counci l on For–
eign Relations, suggesting what
U. S. pol icy should be, vis-a-vis the
enlarged European Community.
PLAIN TRUTH October 1973
Photos
by
Oexter Faulkner
To assess the current status of
U. S.-West European affairs,
Plain Truth Associate Editor
Gene H . Hogberg talked with
former United States Am–
bassador to the European
Community,
J .
Robert Schaet–
zel. Here are key excerpts of
their conversation, held re–
cently in Mr. Schaetzel's home
in suburban Washington, D.C.
Q
UESTION - PLAIN TRUTH:
Mr.
Scbaetzel, for six years you
were the U. S. Ambassador to
the European Community. Since your
retirement from government service
a year ago, you have crossed the At–
lantic on numerous occasions. How
would you describe the present state
of rela tions between the U.S. and
key West European nations?
ANSWER - SCHAETZEL:
The situ–
a t io n has n ot fu nd a me n t a lly
changed in the last few years. A
great deal is going on
in
Europe in
terms of the new construction,
trying to put together sometning
which is variously called the "Euro–
pean Community," "Common Mar–
ket" or "United States of Europe."
The hallmark of the Europeao scene
is preoccupa tion with their own
in–
terna! affairs. 1 would say almost the
same thing prevails in the United
States. In a general atmosphere of
preoccupation wi th interna] affairs,
you can have a degree of conflict
over secondary and tertiary issues.
And this is really what we've had: a
great deal of misunderstanding,
sharp disputes over,
in
many cases,
quite inconsequential trade issues
and a remarkable degree of in–
sensitivity on both sides.
Q .
What does the United Sta tes
want from the nations of Western
Europe today? Washington was very
ins trumental
in
pushlng them toward
unification in the first place.
SCHAETZEL:
1 don't think the U. S.
government knows wha t it wants.
I've argued that it has no clearly
defined policy toward Europe. 1
think the government itself does not
have or has lost - perhaps both -
the interes t which previous adminis-
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