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EUROPE'S DESTINY
(Continued from page 6)
Writing in the J une 18, 1979
Guardian,
columnist Jonathan Steele
adds: "The pope's perspective [enun–
ciated in Poland] went beyond the
ideologies and was in the best sense
'pan-European.' His strictures about
materialism apply even more force–
fully to the consumerism of the West
than that of the East , which is but a
paJe shadow of its western counter–
part .... the fact remains that
~he
pope has revived a vision of a united
Europe by putting ideology a long
way down on his list of priorities."
Onc American television commen–
tator , viewing the emotional impact
of the Vatican's new "foreign poli–
cy," coupled by the swing away from
ftirtation with Communist parties in
Western Europe, said simply, "Euro–
Communism is out and Euro-Catho–
licism is in."
Euro-Parllament
As Pope John Paul
U
neared the end
of his Polish visit , about 60 percent of
the 180 mi llion eligible voters in the
nine European Community nations
cast ballots for directly elected repre–
sentatives to the expanded European
Parliamcnt , one of three principal
bodies which govern the affairs of the
Community.
1
was in the pressroom of Common
Market headquarters in Brussels,
Belgium, as the results of the historie
election carne in. From these results
it is apparent that the new direct ly
e1ected Parliament, expanded from
198. to 41
O
members, will be center–
right conservative in tone.
Excitement surrounding the e1ec–
tion initially was high, but Commu–
nity officia ls were disappointed with
the results for two basic reasons.
First, the turnout, despite a re–
markable 85 percent watershed in
ltaly, was, in thei r view, "disappoint–
ingly low." Apathy, combined with
significa n! voter antipathy, was the
rule in much of Britain and Den–
mark- the latter even electing five
anti-Common Market representa–
tives. Officials in West Germany–
the Common Market"s most enthu–
siast ic supporter-had hoped for at
42
least an 80 percent turnout but had
to settle for 15 percent less.
The second and most detracting
factor in the Euro-election was tbat
the old bugaboo of nationalism re–
fused to recede into the background.
In fact, national perspectives and na–
tional politics dominated the very
conduct of the election itself- an
election in which the people of Eu–
rope were theoretically supposed to
act politically for the first time as
Europeans rather than as Germans,
Danes or Frenchmen.
The J une 17 edition of the
Dai!y
Telegraph
contained an article stat–
ing that the European elections were
bound to radically alter the future of
the Common Market. That is hard to
see at this juncture. The same article
admitted that the newly constituted
Parliament would have only fraction–
ally more power than the old one.
Poli tical control will still reside large–
ly in the hands of the EEC's Council
of Ministers, who represent and di–
rectly report to their respective na–
tional governments.
This election, significan! as it was,
only seemed to confirm the pope's
remark in Poland that "economic
and political reasons cannot" unite
Europe.
Plattorm for Dr. Von Habsburg
Still, it would be premature to dis–
miss the expaoded Euro-parliament
as having no influence. Voters, for
the first time having a direct stake in
its make-up, wi ll certainly expect it
to be more than a rubberstamp.
But perhaps the most important
role the body will have will be to
serve as a platform for the views of. its
members. One of the most interest–
ing and controversia! delegates is
Otto von Habsburg, son of the last
emperor of tbe Austro-Hungarian
empire.
Dr. von Habsburg, also president
ofthe Pan-Eu ropean Union, has been
a ti reless campaigner for years
toward the ideal of a United Europe.
Last year he became a West German
citizen,
p~imarily
to qualify for elec–
tion to the European parliament.
(Austria is not a member.) He is
expected to carry his theme forward
into the Parliament's two chambers
in Strasbourg and Luxembourg.
Dr. von Habsburg also has a much
broader perspective of what Europe
should becomc in tbe future.
He recently told interviewers for the
West German magazine
der Spiegel
tbat if one aspires to be a Euro-parlia–
mentarian, he should "stand up for all
Europe," adding that "the Europe of
the nine ismerely a start ing point. J ust
like the Italian unification in the 19th
century started with part of a state,
Piedmont, so shall the greater Europe
evolve later from this Europe of the
nine."
Asked by
der Spiegel
how far "his
Europe" extends, Dr. von Habsburg
answered: " lt extends to the borders
of Russia. " By this he means, of
course, the inclusion of what is today
Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe.
1
n
bis words: " lt is for usan unbearable
thought that decolonialization is ap–
plicable exclusively for Africa and
Asia and not also for Europe."
Friend of Strauss
I r
was through his close friendship
with Bava rian politicalleader Franz–
Josef S trauss that Dr. von Habsburg
was able to obtain almost instanta–
neous West German citizenship las t
year, a process usually much more
difficult for someone of royal blood.
Dr. von Habsburg, who retains his
Austrian citizenshi p (but has re–
nounccd his claim to the vacant Aus–
tro- Hungarian monarchy), presently
lives in Pocking, Bava ria, near the
Austrian border.
Strauss, who, like the former a rch–
duke, is a devout Roman Catholic,
has praised Dr. von Habsburg as
having one of the keenest political
minds in Europe.
Readers of
The Plain Trurh
would
be well advised to watch the rising
political futures of both of these men.
Only a few weeks ago, for example.
Strauss announced he would seek his
coalition's candidacy for the chancel–
lorship in the 1980 West Germanelec–
tions. (As we go to press, the conserva–
tive opposition has selected Strauss to
be its candidatc.)
And Strauss is not merely a pro–
vincial national figure in the political
arena, as he revealed in his 1965
book
The Grand Design.
In it he
wrote: "Europe is divided .. .. Yet
every aspect of this malaise of the
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1979