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ex1stmg, weak. nominated parlia–
ment of 198 members lo a new body
composed of around 400, direclly
elected by the people of the nine
member states.
As the story goes. lhe heads of
state we re about to recess again
when Wcs t German Chance llor
Helmut Schmidt banged the tab le.
declaring: " o, we have lo get on
with il!"
Jn a short while the ultimate com–
promise was hammcrcd out. breath–
ing life once more inlo the badly
tarnished vision of a united Europe.
(See
The Plain Truth,
September
1976. p. 4, for details.)
And it was German persistence
which made the diíference. West
Germany. it would appear, is at last
shedding its image of being an eco–
nomic g iant but a political dwarf.
Still a
Wirtschaftswunder
Behind Bonn's new - but still cau–
tious - assertiveness in the political
arena of Europe and the world líes
some truly staggering economic sta–
tist ics.
West Germany is the strongest
economic force in Europe, account–
ing for one third of the total eco–
nomic output of the Common
Market.
lt
produces more goods and
services than any other nation in lhe
world, with the exception of the
United States and lhe Soviet Union.
Although its gross national prod–
uct is only one third lhat ofthe U.S.,
its total yearly amounl of foreign
tra de is nearly the same. About one
fourth of Germany's GNP is ex–
porled as opposed to only 6.8% for
the United States.
Next lo the American dollar, lhe
deutschmark
is
the world's most
widely used currency. lt certainly is
the mosl coveted in many circles.
While the dollar has depreciated
slightly in the last five years (though
it is re1atively strong at the mo–
ment), the DM has increased 30% in
value in the same period. Germany
chalked up an incredib1e $22 billion
trade surp1us in 1974 - the 1argest
in world economic history - before
slipping back to "only" a $2 billion
surp1us in 1975.
As a result of over two decades of
wirtschaftswunder
success, ·Bonn's
monetary reserves - gold, dollars.
and other hard currencies - now
12
top out a t over $35 billion. by far
the largest in the world and
twice
those of the United Sta tes.
Bonn. to be sure, did not escape the
im pact ofthe 1974-75 world recession
and indeed is still climbing out ofthe
worst of it. Unemployment is once
again under a miIl ion.
( lt
had climbed
lo a polit ica lly disturb ing 1.35 mil–
lion.) The infla tion rate. which rose to
7% in 1974. is now down
10
slight ly
under 5%. Key industries such as
stee l, chemicals, and construction are
still sluggish. T hei r poor pe rfo rm,ance
was largely responsible for a 3.6%
drop in West Germany's gross na–
tional product in 1975. But overall
business indicators are pointing
sligh tly upwa rd once aga in.
"The Germans Will Pay"
Out of Bonn's bountiful largess
have ftowed funds to rescue the fal–
tering economies of her weak-sister
partners (such as a 5 bill ion mark
loan to Ita1y in 1974), and more–
than-proportional paymenls to help
support French agriculture, Euro–
pean Community nuclear research
work, and various and sundry other
projects such as rural economic de–
velopment schemes in Scot land and
elsewhere.
"The Germans will pay," has al–
most come to be a byword - or a t
least a commonly shared assump–
tion - as if Bonn has to continually
penalize itself for its own economic
success.
But the handouts can't last for–
eve r on their recent scale, not with
an incompletely recovered economy
at home - a sensitive issue with
national elect ions just around . the
comer. (See box. p. 13.)
Recently, Chancellor Schmidt
told the Bundestag that West Ger–
many will continue to make finan–
cia! sacrifices for the sake of the
European Community - but only if
other, weaker members try harder
to sort out their own economic and
social problems. In the meantime,
Bonn will hencefort h scru tinize
community budgets, peppered as
they are with numerous costly pet
projects, with a much more critica!
eye.
The Natlon-State ls Too Small
Bonn's commitment to the Euro–
pean Community - even though it
is in many respects a costly one -
remains strong. And with good rea–
son. The world is far different today
than when the mi litary- industrial
might of th e Third Reich rolled over
Europe and nearly established
world dominion. The world today
belongs in large part to the two su–
perpowers, the United States and
t he Soviet Union. The borders of
their competing alliance systems,
c uriou sly cnough, slice right
thr ough the German nation.
The nation-states of Europe. East
and West, individually are simply
no match for the combined indus–
trial a nd milita ry might of t heir
suitor powers.
No nation in free Europe recog–
nizes tbis fac t of life more than the
Federal Republic. Her economic de–
pendence on the rest of Europe and
especially the Common Market is
enormous. All of Europe, East and
West, absorbs two thirds of Ger–
many's exports - with nearly 45%
going to her eight other partners in
the EC alone.
The only hope for ·the nations of
Western Europe to have an inde–
pendent say of the ir own in the
wor ld 's economic and pol ítica !
arena is by passing through the nar–
row gate of European unity - as
arduous as that task may be because
of confticting nationalisms.
Th is realization explains why
West Germany has tried so hard for
so Long to bring about common
community positions on one front
after another. In addition, by always
espousing the common European
cause, she is Less suspect of nation–
alistic motivations. After all , World
War 11 is not that far in the past.
Chancellor Schmidt has contin–
ually stressed to his countrymen
that they are not to appear to be
"European know-it-alls." Recently
he cautioned Bundestag members:
"We are not thinking of sorne kind
of German leadership bid" in the
EC. "On the contrary , " he
counselled,
"1
warn against that."
The free-speaking Schmidt, how–
ever, occasionally betrays his coun–
try's "good European" image. He
sti rred up a hornet's nest in mid–
July when he told repo rtees that the
United States, Britain, France, and
West Germany had decided that no
multilateralloans would be given to
The
PLAIN TRUTH October 1976