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Welcome to Archive of European Integration - Archive of European …aei.pitt.edu/52105/1/B0675.pdf · 2014. 7. 3. · cludes such renowned artists as Julian Bream, Barry Tuckwell,

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    Live Music Nowt Report by Morag Alexander

    llll in tune for European Music Year

    Birthday honours for musical masters

    Surnmit clears the way for Spain and Portugal

    C.an'twe sort out ourrelations with the US and Japan? By H. Perer Dryer

    Peronal C,olumn: European Commissioner Strnley Clinton Davis

    The Ten's bankmatragerpays out

    Gynies'plea to Europe: 'Give us a break.' By Theo Altheer

    Christopher Tugendhat: excerpts from the Monugue Burton Lecture

    London send-offforthe Bus forEurope

    C,ommunityreports

    More and more women are going into business. By Marion Devine

    Renoir: painting made flesh. By Denis Thomas

    New secrets of the Sistine Chapel. By Bruce Boucher

    The roadto the Isles-andthe alar?

    MEPs'actionto save the whale

    Slhat's inthepa,pers

    ELTRoFoRUM, inset after page 12, includes the new Commission's actionprogrammefor 1985

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    Published by the Commission of theEuropean Communities, 8 Storey's Gate,LondonSWIP3AT.Tel:0L-2228122Editor-in-Chief: George ScottAssociate Editor: Denis ThomasPrinted by Edwin Snell,Yeovil, Somerset

    Ewope 85 dwnot necessarily reflect, in allparticulars, the opinions of the Cornmunityinstitutions. Uusigned material may bequoted or reprinted without payment,subf ect to suitable acknowledgement.BeVast Ofrce : V itdsor House,9ll5 Bedford Sreet, Belfast BT2 7EGTel.(O232)2tfi708C criliff Ofue : 4 C-athedral Road,CatditrCFl9SGTel.(0222)17163lE diibugh Offica : 7 Alva Street,BdinburghEHz4PHTel. (031) 225 2058

    Associated editions:E rgapa, 2lGJ M Strest, t{!F,Suite 707, Varhingtoa DC 2m37, USATel.202 86295mEurqpe, 350 Sparkr Sreet, Suite I I 10, Otuwa,Ootario, Cana& KIR 7S8.Td. (613) 238-646tCottunwtiO Re6ort, 39 Molecworth Streer,Dublin2,IrelandTel712244j0 J oul,s t Ewope, 6l rue des BellesFeuilles, 75782 Paris Cedex 16,France. Tel. 501 58 85Conaod,tt Etoopez,Via Poli 29,@lt7 Rome, Italy .Td..67897 22E F -aoisen HAihobtte, Ostelgiade 61,Poet Bor 144, l(X)4 Copenhageo K,Deamark. Tel 14 4l &l t4 55 32E G *t agasin, Zitelmraouosu?sse 22,53(X)BonnrW. GermanyTel. 23 80 4lConaniiW euopa,Serraoo, 4l-5 a planaMsdrid-l,SpainTeL474ll9EEtropaikiKoiwtis,2Vassilissis Sofias,T.K. 1602, Ath66 134, GreeceTel,T$98A314Euopa-b erblx, E U R brfo,ArchimedessrraatT3,l04(lBrussel, BelgiullTel.2354178Eclos ib t Euop, Bltimot JeanMonnet,Luxeobourg-Kirchb€rgTel.43{lltAonpa, 15, Kuldi Sokak,Cazi Osman Pasa, Arkara, TurkeyTek27 614514$

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    Saying it with music: thank youtYehudiBringinglivemusictopeople Community. As with manywho need it most was Yehudi such worthwhile ventures, inMenuhin's inspiration. The all member states, the Euro-scheme known as Live pean Social Fund is makingMusic Now! - is spreading an invaluable contribution,from Britain to other as MORAG ALEXANDERcountries in the European reports!4?4{i $ffirytrffiIIhe Rastafarian in the drop-in centre day's work - playing for unemployed Rastas

    ! for the unemployed in Haiingey was in Haringey, for children in a library inI really knocked out by Terence McNa- Southend-on-Sea, prisoners in ryormwoodI *u.r'r harpsichord. i{e and his friends Scrubs, homeless men in London, miners'

    were equally impressed by Laurence Frank- children in Gwent, or music lovers in Inver-el's technique on the oboe. The unemployed gordon.youngsrersweremorefamiliarwiththeworks The scheme is the brainchild of Yehudiof Bob Marley, but they listened intently to Menuhin, whose work with young musiciansthe performance by the two young men from is legendary. He founded LMN in 1977 toLive Music Nowl and pronounced them 'real help talented young musicians find audiencesmusicians'. and bring live music to the community. 'For -

    For the musicians involved, it's all in a decades now', he says, 'it has been my dream )3

    An oppreciolive oudience (top) ot iheEffro Doy Centre, Brixton, run by DorisRichords, seen here with her teom.

  • EUROPE 85

    to bring music back into the home. And notonly in the home, but also in other placeswhere most of us spend our daily lives, wherewe work, study, suffer or celebrate.

    'This is what it is all about - bringingtogether excellent young musicians, whomust gain their livelihoods and need audi-ences to find that irreplaceable communionessential to their art, with those who need therefreshment and stimulation of live music,wherever they happen to be.'

    Since 1977, more than 300 young musi-cians have given thousands of concertsthroughout Britain. The musicians, all under27 years old, are auditioned by a panel that in-cludes such renowned artists as JulianBream, Barry Tuckwell, Jack Brymer, DameEva Turner and Yehudi Menuhin himself.The musicians are selected for their excep-tional musical talent, and for their ability tocommunicate musically and verbally with thevaried audiences whom theywillmeet aroundthe country. Each musician receives a fee off50 plus travelling expenses. Costs are keptdown by encouraging organisers to provide.hospitality, in private homes or in the institu-tions where the concerts are held. Fees can bereduced for tours or larger ensembles.

    The operation is supported by sponsorswho include such companies as Marks andSpencer, Esso, W.H.Smith; as well as localhealth authorities, the rWelsh and ScottishArts Councils, Edinburgh City Council, theGreater London Council, and private indi-viduals.

    To continue and develop its work, LMN4

    'The musicions, qlloged under 27,oreouditioned bv b ponelthst includes JulionBreom, BqrryTuckwell, JqckBrymer, Dqme EvoTulner, qnd YehudiMenuhin himself

    who have had psychiatric problems, and whoattend the Centre for support - ranged in agefrom the 20s to the 60s. The concert given byAdrienne and Timothy Black was the fourththis group had attended. At previous con-certs, they had enjoyed a harp and flute duo, aperformance of Indian music, and, at Christ-mas, music from a singer accompanied bylute and guitar.

    Doris Richards, who runs the Effra DayCentre, is enthusiastic about LMN. 'Ourclients enjoy the concerts tremendously,' shesays. 'A lot of the music is new to them, andthey say how different it is. And they alwaysask when they can have another one. \Jfe canchoose what instruments we want to hear, sowe try to suggest ones that are unusual - manyof our people had never seen an oboe or aharpsichord. After the performance, they areable to go up and have a look at the instru-ments and find out how they work. Adrienneand Timothy were good at talking to them.

    Communication, both musically and ver-bally, is fundamental to the LMN philoso-phy. For the Effra Day Centre audience, rhemusicians' ability to choose an appropriateprograrnme, and to explain it and their in-struments to the audience, was important. AsDoris Richards says: 'The pieces were shortand varied, and this was just right for thosewho find concentration difficult.'

    The concert at the Effra Day Centre, whichis run by Lambeth London Borough Council,was funded by the Greater London Council.Now, Sheila Gold is having to think of newways of operating as International Co-

    needs new sponsors. So for 1985, EuropeanMusic Year, it was delighted to receive fund-ing from the European Commission to orga-nise exchange visits of musicians on Euro-pean tours.

    Two instrumentalists who will benefitfrom the Community grant are a husband andwife duo - Adrienne Black, who plays pianoand harpsichord, and Timothy rtr(atts, anoboeist.

    Later this year they will travel to Europe togive concerts in the Netherlands and France.Nearer home, Adrienne and Timothy in rhepast year have played for children in MiltonKeynes, for students in Ripon, and for elder-ly people in London.

    At a recent concert in the Effra Day Centrein Brixton, they played music by Bach,Handel, Britten, and Marais, and ended witha much-appreciated version of Gershwin'sSummertime. The audience of 30 - all people

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    liom a tiny olfice in Vigrnorc Strcet, in l-on-don, where the sounds of practising musi-cians in the rehearsal rooms next to thc'Wig-more Hail are a constant remindcr o1' thcstruggle for perl'ection in the world of music.She has one full-timc und one parl-linrc usri'-tant, as well as hclp from the \Wclsh ArtsCouncil music olhcer and the Yorkshirc ArtsAssociation. Wtih LMN's growing intcrna-tional interests, and the need to sccurc ncwsources ol funding for British activitics, theorganisation is hard-pressed. But Shctia Goldrelishes challenge. Instead ollimiting LMN'sactivities, thc organisation aims to appcal to awider audiencc and to encouragc an cvenwidcr rangc ol-line young instrumcntalists.Auditions arc now taking placc to lind jazzmusicians, and the expert panel includesRonnic Scott and Stcphanc Grape tli.

    'lhroughout 1985. Livc Music Nowl willcontinuc to tr], to mect thc increasing de-mands lbr concerts in thc communitr'. Yehu-di Mcnuhin's dream is now a realitr'. But itneeds the increascd support ol-industrv, com-mercc, public authorities, and individuals tomakc it grow and prosper. g

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    Timothy Wotts ond Adrienne Block orelypicol oI lhe young musicions invited toioke porl in Live Music Nowl, which iscurrenlly receiving o Europeon Sociol Fundqronl. Below: Sheilo Gold, lhe scheme'sdirector, hos set up o series of exchongeconcerts for Europeon Music Yeor.

    ordinator lur L.\1N: she is uriting to spun-sors) to tell them of the organisations whowant concerts, and is asking lbr their sup-port.

    The money from the lJuropean Commun-itv was a much-needed boost for the Euro-pean activities of LMN. -l-he British orga-nisation has been the model for new ones inothcr European countries. With supportfrom Bernard Haitink and princess Juliana ofthc Nctherlands. Netherlands LMN rvas sctup in 1980. Another, in France, has beenlaunched by Pierre Boulez. Belgium next lbl-lowed suit; and Shcila Gold herself managcdto secure lull gove rnment funding lbr a Span-ish LMN. Othcr European countrics lrc nowshowing intcrcst in setting up their own prog-rammes, also based on the British model.

    Sheita Gold has set up the series of ex-change conccrts lor European Music Year.'The EEC grant will enable thc musicians tomove liorn onc country to anothcr and playbeforc grass roots audicnccs,' shc says. 'Myconccrn has bcen to get thc cxact balance be-tween the aim of bringing live music to thecommunity and of giving the best possibleaudicncc opportunities to thc musicians.'

    Shclia Gold directs the activities of LMN

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  • ROPE 85

    All in tune lor Europels fillusic YearInallten Communitycountries, 1985 marks the

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    Wherever you see this sign, itmorks o Music Yeor evenl.Opposite: youth ond iozzorewell represented in lhe prog-romme.

    biggest musical celebrationin European history

    uro-MP Richard Balfe must hardlyhave believed his eyes, or his ears. Ata dinner party in London some five

    I years ago, when the talk turned frompolitics to music, he tentatively suggestedthat the tricentenary in 1985 ofthe birth ofJohann Sebastien Bach, George FrederickHandel and Domenico Scarlatti should beused as the occasion for a European Year witha difference: to celebrate how all kinds ofmusic can help unite Europeans, whether itbe classical, jazzrrockt choral, vocal or brassband. European Music Year was born on IJanuary \is Year, and is now alive andflourishing, with a programme of over athousandevents.

    Thesehave been chosenrnotwittrout heart-ssarshing, by 24 national gsmmitte€s,headed by a European co-ordinating commit-tee.

    The Year staned in a traditional enoughway, with a New Year concert given inViennaby the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra andtransmitted worldwide by satellite ou Mon-dovision. A few hours later, after tle strainsof Strauss's 'Blue Danube' had died away,every belfry in Holland began to ring in theYear.

    Among items of interest is MireilleIaroche's opera barge, whibh has cast offfrom the Quai de Jemmapes in Paris to start acruise of the rivers and waterways of Bel-gium, Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia,Poland and Russia, putting on shows in morethsn fti11y16qrns.

    \[hile the opera barge is chugging acrossEurope, Andrew Parrott in fford is liningup a European Baroque Orchestra of youngmusicians, who will undoubtedly be makingtheir mark, and Olli Mustonen, a 20-year-oldFinnish composer totally unknown outsldehis country, will have completedtheworkforpiano and orchestra commissioned by theFrench minister for cultural affairs.

    Olli Mustonen will play his work inFrance, with theParis Conservatoire Orches-tra and the National Chamber Orchestra ofToulouse. Naturally, Finland has offered acomparable oppornrnity to a yorrng Frenchcomposer.

    'European musical life is extraordinarilyparochial,' says Maurice Fleuret, chairmanof tlie European Music Year committee inFrance. 'A haudful of international starstravel widely, but countless groups who arevery active in their own countries rarely setfoot outside.'

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    Trra*

    The programme announced by the Councilof Europe promises some impressive eventsaimed at getting people moving. For exam-ple, 8,fi)0 young people from 21 countries, inorchestras, choirs, iazzand folk groups, willassemble in Munich and other German townsftom24 to 26 May. Ten thousand yotng malsvoiceQruericantores) will meet in Paris from2 to 7 July for concerts of sacred music at the

    Omnisport Palais and in front of Noue-DameCathedral.

    Twenty tlousand choristers from theschool choirs' organisatiou'Scholae C,antor-um' will assemble before Saint Peter's inRome from 26 to 29 September; fourthousand singers from 20 European countrieswill be in Strasburg from 18 to 28 July; athousand music lovers will meet in Stuttgart

    WHAI'SON INTHEUKEuropeanMusic Yearevents in the UKhave already included -aior concertsand recitals in London, Edinburgh,Cardiff, Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol,Belfast, Orford and Cambridse.

    The musical calendarforthe rest of1985 includes Michael Tippett's'KingPriam' at Covent Garden, openirlg qtr 2May, one of severalproglammesmarking the composer's 80th bfuthday;the premiBre of a new opem by PhilipGlass,'Akhnaten', at the Coliseum,London, atthe end ofJune; aHandelopera season at Sadter's lVells in mid-July; a Festival of British YouthOrchestras atEdinburgh in August; aJelly RollMorton Centenary Concert at

    the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 2lSeptember; Scarlatti operas in Octoberat Bath and Southampton; Handel's'Semele' at the Royal Opera House inNovember; and in December, theUtrecht'Te Deum' by Handel andBach's'Christmas ()ratorio' inGloucester C,athedral.

    In addition, radio and TY networkshave drawaup an extensive Eurolr€a[programme for Music Year.

    Forfull details and additionalinformation apply to Ian Keith,Secretary of the European Music YearBritish Committee, I Surrey Street,London lf C2R 2PS. 01-E36 0914.

  • ROPE 85

    froml4to22 Septemberfor acongress on thetheme'Bach, Schtitz, Handel: classical musicand present-day aesthetic'.

    Other events include the Musica 85 festivaof contemporary music in Strasbourg irSeptember, and the Metz festival of Gaelicmusic of Celtic inspiration, put on by the'Finistires d'Europe' (European Ends of theEarth) organisation, comprising Scotland,(including Orkney and Shetland), Ireland,Friesland, and Galicia inSpain. The Year alsodeals with the everyday problems encoun-tered by musicians, and emphasises musicteaching, with a series of colloquia whereteachers will compare their methods and ex-periences.

    Thousands of assorted small bands andorchestras will be playing on street corners inplaces as far apart as Zagreb, Stockholm,Nicosia, Berlin, Amsterdam and Lisbon.

    It will be worth getting to Athens on 2lJune. On that day, at the request of Greekminister for culture, Melina Mercouri, Yan-nis Xenakis is putting on a visual and musicalspectacular - in the sky and on the city's hill-sides. It could be the high note ofthe Year.

    LINDSAY ARMSTRONG

    BirJhday honorrs lor musical masters! n Western Europe, until quite recently,! only contemporary works were appreci-

    lil:iii:""'.?l'',.1".'f#:#T:L,il'*,:vices or courdy entertainment, and was ex-pected to reflect the particular psychologicalneeds of the moment. As musical fashionschanged, so pieces which were no longerfound pleasing, moving or interesting wererelegated to the archives.

    It was at the end of the I 8th century that aprofound change in musical tastes occurred.Music with any artistic pretensions no longerhad to fulfil a functional role, and became apure art form aimed solely at providing aes-thetic pleasure. It was then, just as the growthof creative individualism was forcing a riftbetween the composer and his public, thatthe music of the past was rediscovered.

    Johann Sebastian Bach was probably thefirst composer to benefit from this revival.\[hen he died in 1750, his music was consi-dered austere and old-fashioned; his passionsand cantatas were no longer sung at SaintThomas's church in Leipzig, where he hadbeen choir-master. He would have been com-pletely forgotten ifit had not been for a groupof faithful admirers- a few friends and pupilsand his son Philip Emmanuel, himself an ex-cellent composer - who continued to playsome of his keyboard pieces, mainly at thecourt of the King of Prussia.

    In his lifetime, J.S. Bach only had a localreputation. He had always been attached tochurches and minor courts, and composedalmost entirely in response to liturgical orcourtly needs, and with very few exceptionshis works were never published.

    Ifany excuse for EuropeanMusic Year were needed, itmarks the 300th anniversaryof three notable birthdays -those of Bach, Handeland Scarlatti

    It was the performance of the Saint Matth-ew Passion in 1829, a century after it was writ-ten, under the direction of Felix Mendels-sohn, which marked the beginning of thespread of Bach's music. It was from that timethat concert rather than church performancesofhis cantatas were given, that his chorales,toccatas and fugues for organ were played,and likewise his violin sonatas, his two andtiree part inventions, the two collections ofpreludes and fugues for the liflell TemperedClavier, and orchestral works such as thedance suites and the Brandenburg Concertos.

    Handel, unlike Bach, had an internationalcareer and a high reputation in his own life-time. Born in Saxony, he began as an operaticcomposer in Hamburg, an important com-mercial and cultural centre, then lived in Ita-ly, where he composed grand opera, cantatasand religious music, and finally settled inLondon where he directed the RoyalAcademy of Music (the Royal Opera). Therehe put on his own work, mostly in Italian, inthe opera seia, a genre which was fashionableat the time in many European cities.

    Handel's most successful works, however,were his religious oratorios in English, based

    on adaptations ofBiblical texts- Saul, Judas,Maccabeus and above all the 'Messiah'. It wasthanks to the 'Messiah' that his work con-tinued to be played after his death in 1759. Ithas been continuously performed, with mas-sed choirs, from then to the present day, inEngland at first and later throughout Europe.

    Like Bach, Handel's outmoded musicallanguage was appreciated for its austeresolemnity, which contrasted with the style ofnewer works. His other works were revivedonly gradually: harpsichord pieces, organconcertos, concerti grossi, dance suites, secu-lar cantatas. His operas, so successful in hislifetime, were not produced again until the1940s. Still, at least Handel did not have towait as long as Bach before being acknow-ledged as one of the great names in the historyo[music.

    The last of the trio, Domenico Scarlatti,was a Neopolitain whose father had been acomposer of popular opera. Scarlatti startedhis career in Naples, then lived sucessively inVenice, Rome and in Portugal before settlingin Madrid, where he lived the last 28 years ofhis life.

    He wrote operas, oratorios and cantatas,but is best known as a harpsichord virtuoso.He composed numerous sonatas for this in-strument, of which 555 survive, modestly cal-led'Esercizi' ('Exercises').

    They bubble with inventiveness of tune,rhythm and harmony and above all providematerial for virtuoso playing. It is thanks tothese qualities that they quickly became stan-dard masterpieces in the harpsichordrepertoire.

    ROBERTWANGERMEE

    7

  • ROPE

    On the eve of ogreement: Ernoni Rodriguez Lopez, Portugol's finonce minisier; Fernondo Moron, Spoin's foreign minister; GiulioAndreotti, ltolyt foreign minisler, curre"ntly Preiident of ih"e Council of Ministers; ond Commission President joiques Delors.

    Atlast - the Ten wlll be TwelveI lthough anxieties about its outcome persisted to almost the last!l moment, the European Council, held in Brussels 29-30ll March, succeeded in agreeing the terms for the admission ofn Spain and Portugal as members of the European Communityas from I January 1986.

    This decision by the Heads of State and Governments must now beratified by the Parliaments of the present ten member-states whichwill be presented with the text of a Treaty amendment allowing theen-try ofSpain and Portugal.

    AstheGuardian commented: 'Accustomed as we are to procrastina-tion and crisis in the European Community, the most remarkableaspect of the Brussels summit was its lack of drama. . .

    'The final political endorsement of enlargement therefore stands ast}le milestone of this session of the European Council. ri7ith a bit ofluck and a lot of hard work on the small print Spain and Portugal willjust be able to join on time on January l. The effects of a failure in thisarea after eight years ofstupefyingly complicated negotiations did notbear thinking about, as the existing Ten clearly realised.'

    It was an added bonus, the newspaper remarked, that the summithad been left with no outstanding issues to resolve, thanks to a recordseries of sessions held by the foreign ministers in the preceding fort-night. The successful conclusion oftheir negotiations on the very eveof the summit, consummately orchestrated by the Italians, who cur-rently hold the rotating Community presidency, spared the Heads ofGovernment the indignity of having to wrangle about lemons, wineand flshing-boats.

    The Prime Minister of Spain, Senor Felipe Gonzales, said: 'Spainshould be able to make a great leap forward in the next ten years.'

    The Portuguese Prime minister, Dr. Mario Soares, said: 'I thinkeverything will change. In five years Portugal will be a different coun-try.'

    One of the last problems to be resolved was that of fisheries. Underthe agreement, Spain will become a full member of the CommonFisheries Policy from the date of accession, but restrictions will be im-posed on the number of boats allowed, catches and flshing zones. A8

    basic list of 300 Spanish vessels will be allowed to fish in EEC waters;but, in practice, only 145 will be permitted there at the same time.Spanish boats will be excluded from tlre so-called 'Irish box' for tenyears.

    On agriculture, it was agreed that EEC tariffs on Spainish fruit andvegetable exports will be dismantled over a period of ten years. Com-munity products such as wheat, beef and milk, will be restricted byquotas, also over ten years.

    So far as Portugal is concerned, it too will have to wait ten years be-fore its agriculture is fully integrated into the Community.

    Borh countries will hqve qseven-yeq r trq nsition period

    Both the new member states will have a seven-year ransition periodbefore entering into a full customs union with their Community part-ners. Portugal will abolish all duties immediately in many areas, whileSpain will remove 52.5 per cent of tariffs in the fust three years.

    In recognition of the need to help the Mediterranean areas to copewith the competition resulting from Spanish and Portuguese entryinto the Community, the European Council reached agreement on In-tegrated Mediterranean Programmes - IMPs, as they are known. As aresult, Greece, which had made such an agreement a condition of itsapproval of the two member-states, will receive 2 billion ECUs ingrant aid to develop its backward agricultural areas over the nextseven years. Italy and France will receive similar amounts.

    The Council also agreed to set 1992 as the deadline for removal of allremaining barriers to a genuine common market, which would meanthe opening up of intra-Community trade in services as well as goods,an obiective much stressed by the United Kingdom.

    ttrfith the agreement on the entry of the new members, the Euro-pean Council can look forward to its June meeting in Milan, when themajor question of institutional reform, including the question of deci-sion making, will be on the agenda. E

  • ROPE 85

    Can'twesort outourrelations with the UnitedStates andlapan?Despite avowed goodintentions, the outlook forrelations between the Tenand the two other worldeconomic powers is nonetoo bright. Report on thesituation as seen by Willy deClercq, the EuropeanCommissioner in charge offorergn relations

    I n an interview in Brussels, Villy deIct.."o. Belsrums memoer rn tne newI Co*mision" in charge of rbreign rela-I aionr, has voiced his concern about a newwave of protectionism in the United States.

    To some extent, conflicts between the EECand the US, resulting from differences of in-terest, perception and attitudes, were un-avoidable, he said. But these are not the newCommissioner's only source of concern: deClercq was also troubled about the Commun-ity's relationship with Japan.

    Having attended the February meeting inKyoto between EEC, US, Canadian andJapanese trade chiefs, and having met many

    Japanese leaders, including the Prime Minis-ter, lie said that they were 'men of goodwillwho understand the need to open their coun-try to the outside world'. Yet the problem ofEurope's huge trade deficits with Japanappeared to be as intractable as ever.

    Another important topic now occupyingthe Commissioner concerns the next GATTround of negotiations. He insisted that theEEC - contrary to some reports - is mostanxious to go ahead with it. Yet it was alsoimperative that it should be preceded bythorough and careful preparations.

    Asked where the Commission stood withregard to the East Bloc, and more particularlyComecon, the Commissioner referred to a let-ter sent by his predecessor, \Tilhelm Hafer-kamp, to ttle Comecon secretary-general, towhich, so far, there has been no reply.

    On rising protectionist pressures in theUS, he acknowledged that the rJ7ashingtonadministration had, until now, been relative-ly successful in beating them off. Yet nowthere was the threat of new measures, eitheralready adopted or in the offing. Mr de Clercqmentioned possible fresh moves in the Con-gress and the proposed farm bill. ''We alsohear rumblings about an import surcharge,'

    he said. Behind all this, of course, was thegiant United States trade deficit, linked inturn to high interest rages and the dollar'sstrength.

    But it was incumbent on the US to take thenecessary corrective measures, rather thanput the burden on Europe's shoulders, headded. The Community had done its indust-rial and agricultural restructuring, had gonethrough painful adjustments in its budgetpolicies, and had worked hard to get rid ofthedisequilibria which had plagued it until 1982.

    'If, because of the US disequilibrium, wewould now have to pay a second timer' hepointed out, 'something would surely bewrong.'

    This is also the situation, though its com-ponents are different, in respect ofJapan. Inthe discussions he had had there, it hadlooked to him as if the authorities had theireyes more on the US than on Europe. In partthis was probably so because Japan's 1984trade surplus with the US of 33 billion dollarshad been just over three times as big as thatwith the EEC. But ttren, the trade flow be-tween Japan and the US was also three timesthat between Japan and Europe. 'If you areaware how serious this situation is for your re-lations with the US,' he said he had toldJapanese leaders, 'you should realise that it isfust as serious for us.'

    Mr de Clercq insisted that he was muchmore interested in trends than in the figuresfor any one year. Mr de Clercq, who beforeloining the Commission served as Belgium'sfinance minister, and also as chairman of theIMF Interim Committee, put great emphasis

    Commissioner Willy de Clercq

    on the fact that, while the trade situation wasworrying, it was not without its positiveaspects either. So far, he said, the tide oftradehad proved stronger than protectionism.

    He pointed out that, last year, world tradehad increased by between eight and nine per

    'lf EuroDe now hqd topqy q sbcond time,3omethinq wouldsurely befrrong'

    cent. During the recession years 1979-1983world trade had nevertheless expanded by 7.5per cent and actually topped the 7 per centrise in world production during the sameperiod. Despite the threats on the horizon, itwas a mistake to say that an over-protectionisttrend dominated the scene. At the same time,the GATT system had been undergoing aslow erosion for several years, and there is adanger of the world relapsing into bilateral-ism. From that, he thought, neither the Com-munity nor world trade - nor indeed Westernsolidarity- would have anything to gain.

    It was up to the West, therefore, to showthat priority must go to removing all doubtsand to restoring credibility. This could bedone by avoiding all new protectionist action,and by demonstrating that the GATT was nota rich men's club.

    Preparations would have to be circumspectand rieticulous if this exercise was to be a suc-cess. This would include a consensus on theround's obiectives, timing and participants.The operation would not have much point, ifthe developing nations, notably the SouthAmericans, did not show up.

    The Commission was confident, he'con-cluded, that the tentative timetable nowbeing talked about could be adhered to. Thiscalled for a meeting later this year of seniorcivil servants, to be followed in 1986 by ameeting at ministerial level, which it washoped would launch the new GATT round.

    H. PETER DREYER

    9

    Executivesfor lapanThe Commission of tle EuropeanCommunities invites Communitycompanies to noririnate an executive forthe 5th Executive Training Progranrmein Japan. Financed by the EEC, theprogramme is intended to helpcompanies build up their knowledge ofJapan and the Japanese market with aview to increasing exports to it.

    For information contact: Peat,Marwick, Mitchell & Co, ManagementConsultants, I Puddle Dock,BlacKriars, London EC4V 3PD. (0f -236 8000, ext 2390).

  • ROPE 85

    Stanley Clinton Davis, one of the two British Commissioners, outlines his prograrnme

    environment, to take one example, is an issue over which tiere iswidespread public concern.

    If the Community fails to respond to the public mood, we shallnot escape the charge ofirrelevance. In Germany some 50 per centof all the trees have been damaged by pollution - a phenomenonwhich has resulted in the desecration ofsites ofgreat naturalbeauty. I believe that the Community has already shown itselfcapable ofadvancing progressive policies to combat 'acid rain'.Existing directives on sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxidereductions, for instance, and last month's agreement on exhaustemmissions, reflect the determination of the Community not toleave the next generation ofEuropeans ttre ghastly inheritance ofa ruined ecosystem.

    Similarly, in the complex field of consumer protection I believethat the Community can show that it shares the concerns ofordinary consumers by optimising the rules which protecr us from

    'lf millions of people remqincondemned tb fhe mqrqins ofeconom ic qctivity, ComEr u n ityqchievements in 6ther sphereswi[ seem positively self:indulgenP

    harmful goods or sharp sales practice. It is, ofcourse, right thatthe voice of consumers should be heard within the Community -a place where they should not only be invited to bring theircomplaints, but also be consulted about the development ofEuropean policy. The Community has given a proper emphasis toworker participation and involvement in recent yearsl theprinciple of engaging people in the construction of decisionswhich affect their lives must be reinforced and extended at everylevel.

    Over the last few years, unemployment in our member stateshas soared to levels which we would once have thought to beinsupportable. The Community contains overs 12 millionregistered jobless- almost 5 mi,llion of whom are under twenty-five. These figures represent nothing short ofa social catastrophe.It is therefore crucial that the thrust of the EEC's economic policyis to put these people back into productive work. This is acritically important area of policy where the Community has theopportunity to bring hope - to be relevant - to millions of worriedEuropeans.

    I(/ithin my own portfolio, I shall of course be looking for newways to create jobs. Environmental protection, for example, has asignificant employment dimension, and I shall be payingparticular attention to this. If millions of people remaincondemned to the margins of economic activity, Communityachievements in other spheres will seem positively self-indulgent.

    The difficulties we face are severe. But they represent no morethan a daily challenge to our commitment, our enthusiasm, ourwill. I believe that, under the presidency ofJacques Delors, theCommission will be seen as a force that is turning the Communitytowards the people, that has an understanding ofthe changes thathave to come, whatever the difficulties. It is my pride andprivilege to be a member of that Commission.

    'lf the Communitv fqils toresp_ond fo the public mood, w@shcill not escopb the chorge ofirrelevqnce'

    he pursuit of credibility is, as Commission PresidentJacques Delors underlined in his recent address toParliament, the prime obiective for the EuropeanCommunity as it confronts the many challenges - political,

    economic and institutional - of the next four years and beyond.I share the view that, if the Community is indeed to prosper as adistinct political entity in the times ahead, it is essential that itspolicies should relate ever more closely to the everyday needs andhopes of the mass of our population.

    The institutional vigour desired by all ofus who serve theCommunity will be generated only through the application ofpolicies that are seen by people to be relevant to their lives.Credibility, as the President said in Strasbourg, will have to beearned the hard way.

    The challenges facing the Community are indeed forbidding,not least in the areas for which I have personal responsibility :transport, environment, consumer protection, nuclear safety,forestry and public health. The degradation ofour physical

    10

  • EUROPE S5

    TheTen's bankmanager pays outurope's own bank, tr. EI!:^113:l: Where does the Europeancentre of hundreds of develooment r - ----- - h i tand investment proiects i6rcrighsut Inve$me-ntlIan!'SmOneyh tn"co--uoiry. n ."irtu.lateirun- go? The figfrres for 1984

    down on where, and to what extent, it has ih'* that-thefe Wefe m,febeenusingitsfinaucialmuscle. "":to tssi, the European-iniestment sank satisfiedcustomefsthanever

    qrygted loans worth more tban 6.9 billionECUs, a rise of 16 per cent on 1983's lenrlingfigures. Of this, 6.2 billion ECUs were de-ployed within the Community's memberstates, 5 billion coming from the EIB's ownresources (principally the proceeds of bor-rowings on the capital markets) and the re-maining 1.2 billion drawn from the resourcesof the NCI - New Community Instrument forborrowing and lending. Operations mountedoutside the Community totalled 708 millionECUs, 620 million of which from the EIB'sown re$ources and 88 million from Commun-ity and European Development Fundbudgetary resources.

    These figures signi$ a further increase on1983, despite the continuing economic un-certainty, varying from one country toanother. Of particular note was the markedrecovery in lending outside the EEC, espe-cially in the form of pre-accession fnancialcooperation in Spain and Porrugal and in theLom6Conventioncountriesrandanewsurge table, together with Denmark and Italy, inin lending within The Ten, notably in Italy terms of the ratio of EIB lending to popula-(+15 per cent), France (+34 per cent) and tion.theUnitedKingdom(+35percent). In accordance with the EIB's principal

    Borrowings came to 4.36 billion ECUs, function, regional development remains atcomparedwith3.62billionin1983.Themein the forefront of the Bank's lending targets;currencies raised were the United States dol- 5T.4percentofloansunderthisheadingwerelar, deutsche mark, the ECU and the guilder. focused on ttre countries facing the most se-Two landmarks on the borrowing frout were vere structural problems (Italy, Greece andthe buoyant growth in ECUdenominated Ireland) and those regions battling with anloanissuesrtoalevelof555million(+140per unemployment rate above and average in-cent), and the Bank's frst ever floating-rate come below the natioaal average.uoteissues(l89.4millionECUs). f,ea1funing a trend which has emerged in

    lTithintheCommunitytherewasahealthy recent years, particularly in 1983, financingrise in lending to the industrial sector (up 37 for indusury, and to a lesser extent agricul-per cent), particularly in support ofsmall and ture, fisheries, tourism and services related tomedium-sizedenterprises-anddevelopment industry, registered a further vigorous ex-and iutroduction of advanced technology pansion(+3Tpercent),at2.l4billionECUs.(+46 per cent). Operations in the enerry sec- Credit in support of smaller-scale indust-tor, desiped to reduce dependence on im- rial proiects occupied, as in the past, a parti-ported oil, also performed strongly, up 23 per cularly important role: global loans from thecent, with energy-saving investmeut making EIB's own resources (in assisted areas) andaparticularlygoodshowing,andtheElBwas from NCI resources (no restriction on loca-also able to maintain its lending for infra- tion, but generally outside assisted areas)strucnue offering intra-Community or re- toulledl.6billionECUsrorthreequartersofgional benefits at a hiBh level, with prolects loans in the productive sector. Small-scaleaimed at environmental protection on the capiul investmepl finansed in 1984 brokeincrease. down as to 88.8 per cent for ventrrres under-

    TheBank'sstrengthenedperformancewas taken by firms with a worldorce of less thanparticularly marked in Italy, France and theUnited Kingdom, but loans were also granted rFi nOnCe q imed Otffff.:il"Hffi 1:ffir,l"H,BffilT::ff curiiirUJorfi-rne-rsc's1983. Activity in Denmark and Germany dip- dgpenaencg On Oi I5|'I#ITj":flJ',"Hffi f :il'*:'ffi:imionscontinued'

    200 and 63.5 per cent for proiects mounted byenterprises employingfewer tlran 50 people.

    Larger industrial proiects attracted 550million ECUs (compared with 370 million in1983). Some 2JQ milliqr f,QIrs (172.2 milliosiD 1983) went towards the development andintroduction of advauced technolory, in linewith the Community's objective to boost thecompetitive vigour of European companiesand foster development ofhigh-tech sectors.

    Financing aimed at cuning down theEEC's dependence on oil imports continuedto rise, reaching 2.25 billion ECUs: 1,232,7million was channelled towards developingindigenous resoluces, with the emphasis onnuclear and hydroelectric powerand tappingoil and gas deposits; 762.7 milhon was fo-cused on investment to make more efficientuse of enerry and on developing renewablesources of energy: geothermal installations,solar panels, district heating systems, elec-trification of railway networks. On top ofthis,252.4 millioa ECUs were directed to-wards diversifuing energy supplies by in-creasdrecourse to gas and coal.

    Added to this sum come a further 248.5milliqa ECUs - representing 292 allocationsgranted in 1984 from global loans in suppoftof small and medium-scale schemes to saveenergy.

    At2,307.3 million ECUs, finansg for con-struction or modernisation of infrastructureessential for the economy to run smoothlycontinues to hold an important position:transport at 786.4 millioa and telecom-munications at 61 1.9 were both up on the pre-vious year, while water schemes attracted3(X.4 million. Global loans for small andmedium-scale infrastructure schemes, roadsin particular, again reached s high volume(334.9 million); 634 schemes were financed,for a total of 342.3 million ECUs.

    The maior part of the infrastructurefinanced offers regional benefis in terms ofupgrading comnunications in assisted areas;in addition, 245.4 million ECUs (123.4 in1983) helped in fnancing roads and motor-ways in Italy, France and Luxembourg whichwill mean a substantial improvenent to roadlinks between member states.

    Another Community priority, environ-mental protectiou, was the moving force be-hind a further 153.9 million ECUs in loans,advanced principally for waste water treat-ment facilities in Greece, Italy and the UnitedKingdom. One of the more novel proiectsfinanced under this heading related to protec-tion of archaeological sites at Pompeii andHerculaneum, of interest for the Communityasawhole.

    The EIB puts at some 19.6 billion ECUsthe total fixed asset cost ofprojecs financedin 1984. The loans made up about 35 per centofthe cost ofthe projecs and nearly 1 per centof gross fixed capital formation in the Com-munity in 1984, i figure which rises to 3.6 per )

    ltthesecountrim still remainnearthe top ofthe

  • EUROPE S5

    cent in Ireland, 4. I per cent in Greece and 3.8per cent in Italy (as much as 5.9 per cent ir theMezogiorno). Iu terms of employment,these proiects are estimated directly to havegeneratd more tha, 44r0(X) permanent iobs.

    In addition to this, there is rle impact ofproductivity, particularly as re-

    eprds global loans for SMEs, which hashelped to safeguard employment in firmswith a combined workforce of 6fi)rfi)0 peo-ple. Moreover, ttre orders and work relatingto the investment sgfus6es financed, particu-ladyin the case ofinfrastructure, represents alarge number of temporary iobs over periodsof from two to 10 years, depending on theproject.

    Taking all these factors together andaccountiog for loans made in previous years,the number of people in a job in 1984 as a re-sultof EIB financingis put at 500,0fi).

    'Cul-bscks in oilimports were qttqinedby e_ne1gy-sqvingmelhods'

    The EIB estimates that projects in theenergy sectors financed dudng 1984 should,when fully operational, represent the equiva-lent of 11.1 million tonnes of oil equivalentper annum, 2.3 million of which wasaccountd for by energy savings in industryand public infrastructure. Since 1980, thecut-back in oil imports achieved by virrue ofEIB operations is assessed at 73 million toe, ofwhich 15.4 million was attained by means ofenerry saving measures. This represents 20.3per cent of the Community's proiected oil im-portfigurefor 1990.

    The EIB is continuing its work of de-ployingfunds setaside by the Community tounderpin reconstruction work in the regionsof Italy struck by the earthquakes in 1980,granting loans totalling 66.5 million ECUs

    "1112gring a 3 per cent interest subsidy borne

    by the Community budget. In all, subsidisedlending for earthquake reconstruction by theend of 1984 amounted to 858.6million ECUs,drawn from an overall package of oue billion,including 677.5 million from NCI resources.

    In 1984 the EIB made available14T.6mil-lion ECUs in the Mediterranean countriesand 160.7 million under the Lom6 Conven-tion. As in previous years, numerous co-financing operations were mounted in con-iunction with bilateral or multilateral aid,EEC budgetary aid and credit advanced viaother banks and international organisations.

    In Spain, 140 million ECUs were lent aspart of the Community's pre-accession finau-cial cooperation arrangements. The fundsT2

    try and tourism. The purpose underlying thisn-ai"e is to boost

    -the-competitivenis or 'A lOqn Vy11S mqdefOf

    went to finance hydroelectric power genen-tion, development ofan off-shore gas deposit,small aud medium-scale infrastructureschemes in Spain's less privileged areas andthe islands and, in particular, ventures pro-moted by smaller-scale enterprises in indus-

    Spain's industrial sector before it is exposedto the European marketplace.

    In Pornrgnl, a total of 80 million ECUswere channelled towards athermal andahyd-roelectric power plantin theAzores, the roadlinking Oporto and Vila Real (on the borderwith Spain), a new railway bridge over theriver Douro on a line carrying both nationaland interuational traffic, and smaller indust-rialfirms.

    In the other Mediterranean countries, theEIB advanced: in Yugoslavia,125.3 millionECUs for improvements to the traus-Yugoslav railway system and the trans-Yugoslav highway, both of immediate im-portance for trafrc to and from Greece; inMorocco, 54 million for a hydroelectric com-plex in the Hieh Atlas and for small andmedium-scale on-farm and agricultural pro-cessing schemes; in Tunisia, 10.5 milliou forfeniliser storage and distribution centres ands-all and medium-scale agricultural andagro.industrial vennres; in Egyptr 65.5 mil-Iion for interconnection ofthe Shoubrah ElKheima power station with the national gridand for mauufacture of construction mate-rials; in Jordan, 13 million for water supplyand sewerage systems serving two towns and

    38.3 million ECUswere looned forqmolorwoybetweenDomoscu3 ond theJordonion borde/

    for smaller-scale industries; in Syria, 38.3million for the motorway berween Damascusand the Jordanian border and for irrigationand drainage networks in the lower Euphrates valley; and in Israel, 20 million forsmaller-scale industrial venttues.

    In the African, Caribbean and PacificStates (and the Overseas Countries and Terri-tories), the level of financing staged some-thing of a comeback in 1984, such that theEIB deployed 160.7 million ECUs in supportofprojects benefiing 22 countries ( I 8 African,3 Caribbean and 1 Paciflc) and one overssasterritory. This brings total EIB leuding be-nreen the entry into effect of the SecondLom6 Convention and the end of 1984 to623.5 million ECUs.

    Ofthose loans granted in 1984, 53 per centwent to manufacturing industry (35 per centvia individual loans for the more maior pro-iects and 18 per cent under global loansconcluded with developmenl finansg qs6-panies for smaller businesses). Energy, in

    loYinq eiqhtuddeFroTer cqblesbelween Colois tlndDove/

    particular development of local resoluces totrim the oil imports bill which is especiallyburdensome for the developing countries,attracted 29per centoflending, water supplyschemes benefiting both industry and the loc-al population 15 per cent, mining and quar-ryng,z.S per cent and various feasibility stu-dies 0.3 per cent.

    In the United Kingdom, lending reached[547 million, of which f,338.4 million went tothe energT sector. f258.5 million was takenup for construction of the 1,400 M\tr TornessPoint nuclear power station in Scotland,equipped with two advanced gas-cooled reac-tors, and for installations for storing andhandling fuel and treating effluent at the Sel-lafield plant in Cumbria.

    North Sea hydrocarbons development wasagain a recipient of EIB finance, funds beingearmarked for constructiou of drilling plat-forms in the Esmond gas field and laying ofseveral gaslines including a 215km line to theNorfolk coast. A further loan was made avail-able for a proiect to interconnect the Frenchand British high-voltage power grids, bylaying eight submarine cables between Calaisand Dover. This rpill enable the two countriesto swap supplies when necessary and to copemore smoothly at times ofpeak demaod.

    lnfrastructure in England's Assisted Areas(mainly the Midhnds, East Anglia, the north\[est, Yorkshire and Humberside), \Valesand Scotland took up 01,16.9 million. Vorkincludedwater supplies, sewerage aud sludgedisposal schemes, drainage, road coustruc-tion, a container tenninal, improvements toairport facilities, industrial infrastructureotourism, and telephone installations.

    The [39 million which went to industryhelped to finance expansion ofan aeronauticsplant in Belfast where a new short-haul air-craft, the SD 360, is being constructed, andsmall atrd medium-scale venmres, mainly inthe Assisted Areas.

    In lreland, lending totalled IRSI26.1 mil-Iion, all of which went into proiecs contri-luting towards regional development. Kl

  • FUII intesation and more jobs

    - top priorities in the neruCommission's action BrosarmeThe Commission's hogramme for 1985, published last month,points to actions that will reach well into the next decade. Withconsolidation as its main theme, it largely ignores theCommuniQy's current financial preoccupations, and insteadconcenhates on a series ofpractical measures which wouldbenefit the citizens ofthe Community as a whole.

    lGleoring owoythebqrriers todevelopmenl,ondso boo5linq trode,will turn rh6 fide olunemploymenlwirhiri trrtl yeors'

    The priority, accordiug to the Commis-sion, is to clear away the barriers andobstacleshinderingthe development ofthe internal courmotr market, and sogive a boost to hade which will help ina second objective - to turn the tide ofunemplo5rment within two years'. Be-fom ofthe Common Agricultural Poli-cy would be accompanied by refine.meuts in social and regional policy,with emphasis on research and innova-tion and measured to help smallbusinesses.

    the Commission stresses the im-portance of the envimnment - 1987will be European Environment Year- in t^king industrial and agdsulturaldecisions, and isplaaning a second con-oumerprotection action progranme.

    Greater internal cohesion sheng-thens Community inlluence on the in-ternational stage, where its economicclout often exceeds its political one. theCommisgion would like to see bothaspects developed in a complementar5rway.

    But all this work loses value unlessthe citizens of the Community blieveit is worth their support. Part of theCommission's mandate in 1985 is toshow that there are European di-videndsinzuchsupport.

    In presenting its programme to theEuropean Parliament, the Commis-siou expresses the hope that Parlia-meutarians will support'an ambitionfor Europe' that it finds there. In broadtems, such an ambition means streng-thening the Communit/s esonomicpotential, transforming it into an in-fluential aetorontheworld stage, mak-ing the organisation tangible to itscitizens, and leading the way to Euro.peanunion.

    While achievement of such an ambi-tion ultimately rests on the Commun-i{y's ability to solve its financial prob-lems and accommodate enlargementwith Portugal and Spain, the Commirs-sion bluntly points out that, over thelast fifteen years, economic pedorm-ance in \ilestem Eumpe has been

    mdiocre. It believes that the situationcould be transfonned ifthe potential ofthe internal market was fuIly erploredand natioual economic policies mademore coherent and ilpamic in a sharedstruggle for growth and employment.The Commission, therefore, will askthe European Council ofheads ofstateand govemment to pledge itself to com-plete a fully unified intemal market by1992, and to approve the necessaryprogramme together with a realisticandbindingtimetable.

    Such apledgewould, ifthe Commis-sion has its way, involve adoption bythe Council of Ministers of a widerange of complex legislation faUingunder three rnain heads - removal ofbariers, hamonised nrles, and cooperation between firms. Work wouldcontinue on the recent Council to intro-duce a single sdministfative dosumentfor tJre passage of goods across Com-munity intenral frontiers, and on ideasto let people move more freely too. Theultimate aim of ahlishing frontierswill involve the elimination of tax con-hols at borders, by harmonising VATbases, the structure of exsise duties,and VAT and excise rates. There is alsoneed to liberalise financial and bank-ing senrices, accompanied by a streng-thening of the Eumpean MonetarySystem (EMS) anda greaterrolefortheECU in the ff nanciel markets.

    the Commissiou draws attention toits new approach to industrial hamo-nisation, by mncentrating on ooulmonCommunity staudards ou safety andpublic health and referring technicalstandardisation to accepted intema-tional standard bodies such as CENand CENEI"EC. It hopes by tJris meaasto speed agreements on indushialliberalisation and, in another fleld, topersuade the Council to adopt existingproposals on patents and trade marks.

    A green paper on copyright to beissued shortly, will focus on legal pro-tection of softwarc, micro-cirruits, auddata bsnkc. The Commission intendsto foster shicter competitiou rulesunder Articles 85/86 of the Rome Trea-ty, but is pmposing to establish anadministrative hibunal which wouldhear complaints against Commissionaction in the competitionfield.lhe hi-bunal would have power to reviewquestions of both fact and law, withappeal to the Court ofJustice oa ques-tions oflaw only. lbe nim is to speed upthe handling of complaints and lightenthe burden on the European Court ofJustice.

    the Commission is also stern onstate aids for indusky, rnany of whichit says, represent a waste oftaxpayers'money which could be better used incompetitive and job-creating indus-hies.

    .APBIL1985(r)

  • 'Mqny stqte oids toindusiry qre s wqsteof toxp6vers'money,*hich couldhe beililr used incompetitive ond iob-creqiing industri'es'

    the Commission sees the promotionof indushial cmperation as esseatial ifthe Community is to create a largemarket, benefit from its economic andsocial advantages, and rank on a par ..with its rnajor parhrers, the USA andJapan. It is therefore proposing a newtax framework, including removal offlscal obstacles to business cmperatiou(such as double taxation ofparent com-panies snd subsidiaries, aud taxationapplicable to mergers), harmonisationof tax arangemeuts for the carry:overoflosses, and hamonisatiou oftaxes onhansactious in sesurities. A legalframeworkwould covera regulation onEuropean Economic Interest Groupings (EEIG), encouraging mss-brdercooperation among Community ffrms,and the tenth Company Law Directiveon cross-border mergers of publiclimited companies. The Commissionalso intends to review Communityffnencial instruments, zuch as the NewCommunity Instrument (NCI), whichit claims hao been useful in helping"mall and medium-sized firms to h-vest.

    The Commission emphasises thatthe nefom of the Common Agdcultu-ral Policy, started in 1984, must con-tinue, but that there wiU be a full dis-cussion with interested parties to de.cide on new prospets for Communityfarming. While there will have to bemarkef rehted pricine policies aridcontinual application of Suaranteetbresholds, the Commission will seekf,6 msintain 6balancebetweenprudentffnensing and farming neds. It hopesthat the Council and the EnropeanParliament will endorce Commissionpolicies to put farming on a fim foot-ing, including a cut back in wine pro-duction and better organisation of fruitand vegetable production in order toavoid wasteful ploughing in.

    Meanwhile, in this difficult period,the Commission is aware that it mustguard against increasing national aidsfor farmem whie.h could contribute tothe breakdown of the CAP. It also cop-plains of the many noa.tariffbariersto hade, such as veterinary and altresedhealth regulations, that prevent thefree movementof agricultual gods. It

    notes that there are,40 proposals tobreak down barriers awaiting adop-tiou, and that some of these proposalshave been on the table for as long astenyearc. Meanwhile, the Commissionwill payspecial attentionto the controlof foot and mouth disease, action onhomones, and problems of pesticideresidues, together with protection ofenirnals used for experimental pur-poses.

    Decisions on fisheries largely awaitthe outcome of uegotiations withSpaia. But the Commission is prepar-ing a forestry action programme aimedat strengthening foreshq/s role inCommunity development.

    UnemploSrment in the Communityrose to a rate of 1I" per cent of the work-force in 1984, and is expected to climbfurther in 1986. Young people andwomen appear to be the worst affectd,according to the Commissioq and theshare of long-term unemployed hasreached some 40 per cent of the unem-ployed total. The Commissioqr sees eco-uomic growth as the rnajor powerhousefor job srcation. TVhile insisting on theimportance of economic stability, itfavours public investment that has ahigh social return, such as in infra-structure projechs e''d in help for smallexisting businesses ard the creation oflels onets. It wams, however, that inthe creation of jobs labour cpsts willhave to lae behind produstivity gainsforawhile.

    'll is ggsentiol to helpsmoll businessessq_rvive througheffesfive trssislonceservices'

    the Commissim is also pursuing anumter of sosial oljectives co4cemiuCworking time, safety ancl health atwork, employment ofthe handicapped,and promotion ofrights of irnrnigrants.It is considering a more radicalmedium-term programme on equalopportunities to follow the existingprogramme whie,h ends this year, andhasplans to enable students to benefitfrom periods of study in other Com-munity countries. It will propoce newguidelines for the European SocialF.urd (ESF) in 198ffi allowinggrea-ter concentration in areas of ned, andsees in the Begional DevelopmentFurd (ERDD nrles that came intoefu in 1985 the opportunity to de'velop its own intervention strategrwith priorities ou regioual development and multi-annual operations.

    Where the environment is con-ceme{ the Commission stresses theneed for the Council to adopt its two-yearold propoml for environmentalimpact assessment by developers b+'fore indushial or other buildings areinstalled, and for approval of a mries ofmeasures concenring air pollution,acid rain, and control of the dumping ofwastes. It is preparing a fourth actionprogramme which will take account ofthe public interest in environmentalmatters. there will also be a second ac-tion programme oD consumer protec-tion audfurther efforts bythe Commis-sion to persuade the Council to adoptits pmposals on toy safety and prductliability.

    While maintaining a positive pro-gramme for older industries, such ascoal, steel and shipbuilding, the Com-mission is particularly iuterested innew technolory developments and theopportunities forjoint research and in-novation. It is aiming for a EuropeanInnovation Loan, combining NCI andbudgetresources, which would have aspial line for smaller busilrcsses, andhelp to raise the level oftecbnolory inEurope. Research bodies such as Espritand RACE Gesearch in AdvancedOommunications in Europe) are show-ing sigas ofpositive cooperation, withthe hope, in a five-year progranmefrom 1986, of implementing sommonstandards and the establishment ofadvaaced systems for data transmis-sion. the objective is acommoniDfi?s-tructure of telecommunication net-works by 1995-2000, an achievemeutthat will require a lot oflegislation.

    Xhe Commission notes that almost60 per cent of the CommuniQy's work-ing population are employed in smallto medium-size businesses. It is essen-tial, therefore, to help them sunrivethrough effestive assistarce services,and encourage them to participate inthe technological revolution throughtraining and financial aid.

    Industrial development obviouslybenefits from gmd and integratdtransprt systems and effective enerrypolicies. For the present, the Commis-sion is concentrating ou improvementsin maritime and air transport, but isalso proposing to allocate 90m ECUs(f,56m) towards a number of schemesaimed directly at improving bordercrossingfacilitiesfor heary goods vehi-cles. The Communi(y's energr policies,aimed essentially at reducing depend-'ence on foreign oil imports has, on thewhole, worked well. The Commission'srnain interests here concern the Com-munity's nuclear energy programmeover the next fifteen years, and de-velopment of new and renewable ener-ryresources.

    Gi)

  • The Commission stregses that theCommuniQ/s external authority de,penils primarily on its internal cohe.sion. When it talks with one voice it isheard wit,h respect. This situation cer-t-inly applie in the economic fieldwhere the Community will shortly beengaged in firrther exchanges in tJreGATI andpossible renegotiation oftJreMulti-Fibre Arrang:ement (MFA), reg-ulating textile imports, which erpiresinJuly1986.

    Ihere may also be fur'ther negotia-tions with the Unitd States over agri-cultural policie, steel and otherformsof trade, while Community effort inJapan will concentrate on a bettermarketing balance including an otrEn-ing up ofthe Japanese market.

    the C,omrnissionnotes a desireto im-prove relations \rith Latin Americaand the possibility of a regional cooperation agreement with Cenhal Amer-ica- There will be tlre conclusiou of anerr, broader basd coopration agree-ment with China, and Iom6 III, whichcane into force on 1 March 1985, offersa five.year programme of cooperationwith 65 developing countries fromAfrica, the Caribbean and the Pacific -the ACP States. the Community alsohas importaat trading relations withthe countries of South and South EastAsia, most with fast growing osono.mies.

    the Commissiou is keen, where itcan, to encoumge those of us living inthe Community to understand what itis and what it does. Discussious are inhenfl 16 bring cable and satellite TVwithin broad Community rules of bs'haviour, aud perhaps to aid the cinemaindustry. But more important is theopportunity for people to move freely,unhiudered by passport or other con-trol, around the Community countries,and to be able to set up their businessesor establish their professions whereverthrcy like to work. Though there havebben moves iD tlds direction, much ne-mains f,6r be done - architects, aooourl-tants and pharmacists, for instance,cannot operate abroad - and [email protected], including the UK, havefailed to introduce the European pass-port which was due to come into effecbon 1 Januarlr 1985. Still hopeful,however, the Commission is plqnningto submit a pmposal this year whichwill make the driving licence validthmughout the Community, regard-less ofthe holde/s counfir of residence.

    It is also planning a campaign to en-courage people to recoguise our Eurro-pean identity, which will demonstrateour shard heritage and values; and itwill encourage participation in Euro-pan Music Year, Intemational YouthYear, and the European Yacht Race -

    "TheGommun ity/sexlernql sutholiVdepends prinloriliron ils internslcoheslon.When ittolkswilh onevoiceitis heord withrespecr

    opportunities which the Commissionaime to use in order to insrease aware.ness of the European dimension, bothinside and outsidethe Community.

    Presenting his report to the Euro.pean Parliamenton 12 Mardr, JacquesDelors stressed the imprtance of co-

    operationbetween the north and southof the Community. Tlre north, he said,should use its advantage ofresourcesand climate to coutribute to the well-being of the south. Meanwhile, he saidthat he would be caUing on the Euro-peau Council (Summit), meeting inMilan in June, to support the Commi+'sion's programme for a genuine com-monmarketby 1992.

    From the European Council, theCouncil of Ministers and the EuropeanParliament, the Commission's pro-gramme requires firm and steady application of Eumpean rather thannational principles, to take the Com-munity into the next century. It is, asthe report says, 'an ambition'ratherthan au ideal for Europe. But ambi-tions caD often be achieved whereidealsfail.

    I he Europeau Commission is supI po*i"g a rouud-Europe yacht raLI this snmmer - the first of a series ofI races involving Community crews,

    as well as entries from Spain, Pornrgal, theUnited Sutes and C,anada.

    The frstweekcud raceis due to beginon 9 August, with the 36 multi-hull yachtssailing &om the German port of Kiel downto Porto Cervo in Sardinia. The 13 metretransatlantic yachts will stop off atScheveningen, Ostend, Torquay, Lo-rient, Lisbon, Benalmadeua and Toulon.

    The second race, scheduled for the

    summer of 1987, is to follow a similarcourse butina reverse South-North direc-tiou, @inning at a Greek port and calingin at Ireland and Denmark. The races areto be staged in the summer, so as to attractthe support ofthe traditional coastal re-sorts and to avoid the other major eventson the international yachting caleudar.

    Commissioner Ripa di Meana hopes therace will serve as an imags-builder for theCommunity, with the EEC symbol dis-played prominently on the sails. The ideawas launched at the Fonainebleau'sum-mit'lastyear.

    (iii)

  • EIIB,OFOR,IrM

    More goods onfte moveIhis year, about 47&3 milliontonnes of goods wiII be transpr"tedon the Communit5r's roads,railways and inland waterwayq6 1rcr cent more than last yeat'sestimates, according toforecasters.

    Ofthe total, 42.6 per cent will travelby inland water:way, 4L.5 per cont byroad aud 15.9 per cent by rail. That re'flects a slight increase in the pmpor-tion offreightusingthe railways, andaslight decreaee in the pmportiontravelling by road and water.

    In tems of quantity, about 203.9million tonnes of goods will travel bywater (5.1 per cent more +.han lastyear); 198.4 million tonnes will go byroad (5.3 per cent more than lastyear);end 76 milliou tonneswill travelbyrail- 10.6 per cent more than the estimatesfor1984.

    Funds for new energyschemes

    Siace 1078 the EEC has givenfinancial backing to over 8(X) :energy tdomonstration projects',or worHng scale models. This hesplayed a key role in developingnew technologies, and theEuropean Commission has nowasked the Council of Ministe,rs tospend another 7fi) mitrion ECUe(&185 million) on similar schemesbetweennowandl9fr).

    Botween 197&1984 the EEC ryentover 4{16 rnillion ECUg on enerry de-monshation projects * about 20 prcent of theitotal cost. The remaining80 per cent was paid by participatihgfirms and member states. About 150million ECUg of the contribution wentto energy-saving schemes, and 126 mil-lion to new energies such as solarpow-er and coal liquefaction and gasifica-tion, The rest went towards efforts toreplace expensive importeil oil withsuch cheaper homegrowa alternativmascoal andpeat

    About 5P0 projects have now beencompleted, with about half ofthem ful-ly obtaining their objectives. the mostsuccessful are committed to reimburs-ing the Community to the tune of 50per cent ofthe aid they received, when

    EIIBOPEAN HE\iMVU

    tobuikla

    Tlre Commission has re,launchedits campaign to improve the humanand civil rights of Europe's12 6ffi61 immigrants. the movofollows what ofEcials describe as'an increase in discrtmination,racism and xenophobia' caused bythe recession srfl high levels ofunemplo5rmont in the ten memberstaies.

    Speaking at a press conference inBrussels, the new social Affairs Com-missioneg, Peter Sutherland, said thatthe uew'proposals put fonrard by theEumpeaa Commission included sallsfor educational reforms to help chil-dren from imrqig?ant families, and ashenthening of EEC legislation on thefree movement of workers.

    Efforts to improve the lot ofEurope'simmigrant workers, about two-thirdsof whom come fr om non-EEC countriesinelutling Spai& Portugal, Turkey,North Africa and the Indian sub-continent, begaa in L974 with theapproval of an action programme thatled to the adoption of several directivesial976177.

    But mnomic pressures and the lessthan full compliauce'of member statesinliving up to their obliga:tions rmderEEC law to educate immigr.ant fami-Iies to help them adapt vfoiffi mgin-t-ining culturlal links with their coun-triesoforigiq meantthatexistingpoli-cies uow needd to be \rpdated', trf,rSutherlandsaid.

    poolGer-

    Reforms should includeexisting Commrmity lqislation onnigiant workers from other memberstates, including their right to socialsecurity, their right to vote - at least atlocal level - and other measures tomake freedom of movement within theTen realistic proposition, he said.

    the Commission also wants memberstates to consultit more overissues re.ILating to imrnigration from thirril coun-tries. they should mount infomationcampaigns aimed at both their ownpopulations 6afl immi grant sspprrni-tiesto easetensions.

    Gsurt rules on fair dealfor students

    A member state cannot subjectstudeuts from other member statesto requireme.rrts different ftomthose to which it subjects its ownnationale, according to theEuropean Court of rlustise.

    The ruling, which applies to all shr-dies, eame to light in a recent case in-volving a French art student wantingto study to be a cartoonist at the Llidgeartcollege in Belgium.

    When Frangoise Gravier sigued upfor the oourse in 1982, the Belgian au-thorities asked for a ?t1,622 fuarc(f,340) fee, charged to all shrdents whodo not come from either Belgium orLuxembourg.

    She refused to pay, on the groundsthat, as an EEC citizen, s.he was enti-tled to the same treatment as Belgianson the course.

    Tf,e Belgian authorities refused toaccept the argument, and when she applied for readmission the followirigacademic year the college refused toallow her to re.register for courses. Shewas also refirsed an extension of her re-sident'spermit.

    She promptJy took her case to courtThe Lidge court eventually referredthe case to the European Court of Jus-tice in Luxembourg. It asked for clar-ification on two issues. Did the ban ondiscrimination on grounds of national-ity contained in the EEC Tleaties ex-tead to students studylng in othermember states? And ilid it applyto car-t@nists?

    The court ruled in lVIs Graviet'sfavour on both counts. In the mean-time, the LiBge authorities allowed herto matriculate on aprovisioualbasis atthecollege.

    include a solar-heatedcomplex at Inzell inmsny. Solar panels keep the outdoorpools at 24"C in sunmer, and heat a eo-vered pool in winter with the help of aheatpump.

    Another

    cutting fuel costs by 12 per cent by us-ing two-cylinder insteait of four-cylinder engines,vittrvery little loss ofpower.

    the Eumpean Commission wantsthe programme to continue over thenext fouryears, but says that it doesn'twant the reimbursement clause in-serted in the new agreements, as itlenalises success'. Good projectsshoulil be pmfitable, as they are in theUS and Japan, it says.

    (iv)

  • ROP

    r*ruFF*

    Gypsrbs' plea to Europe:'Giveus a bre,ak'urope's two million Gypsies, whoseancestry dates back to their origins innorthern India a thousand years ago,are divided by tribal groupings, clan

    rivalries, and the sheer number oforganisa-tions which claim to speak for them. Yet awell-attended conference - the world's firstinternational Gypsy tribunal - was success-fully held in February this year at TheHague, ending with a message for the peoplesofEurope.

    In their own tongue, Romany, that mes-sage said: 'Am6 kamas mishto t'avel sa eRomenge and6 sako tem . ' I$7hich means : ' Wedemand rights for all Gypsies throughout theworld.'

    A hundred delegates, most of them Roma-nies but including representatives of Gypsyorganisations, crowded into the CongressHall of The Hague to tell a six-man 'iury'-two eminent criminologists, two universityprofessors of law, and two senior Romanies -

    THEOALTHEER, of The

    Harassed and persecuted intheir homelands, the Gypsypeoples of Europe have justheld their first internationalmeeting- at The Hague.

    Times, has sent us thisexclusive report

    of the repression which, 40 years after thewartime holocaust, they are still suffering.

    The greatest suffering is being endured bythose who are stateless after being expelledfrom the countries, mostly in EasternEurope, in which their families have lived forgenerations. The latest expulsions are fromPoland. At the tribunal a serious charge wasmade: that General Jaruzelski's r6gime is

    countenancing the de facto deportation of awhole race.

    Already, the tribunal heard, 20,000 ofPoland's Romanies, estimated to number be-tween 30,000 and 50,000, have been forcedout. They are drifting across Europe, haulingtheir battered caravans, carrying improvisedtents in ancient cars, harried from border toborder.

    They claim they are the victims of a pog-rom, a word they last became familiar with inthe Nazi years, when at least 250,000 of theirnumber perished.

    Some make their way across the Baltic onships to Sweden; others head for The Nether-lands, hoping to take advantage of thesecountries'reputation for tolerance. One suchemigr6 is Stanislavska Mayevsky, a wiry46-year-old, who made it from Poland toHolland.

    He said: '\tr7e had lived in houses for years,but once the coup occurred, our position be-

    l3

  • **ff*,]fl

    'The lqtest expulsionsqre from Polond: up to50,000 hove been

    '1it'nro alst.r to par, 800 dollars. obtained for-gqd gut bythe post-through rhe blackmarkcr, ro.cusroms.aurhor- SOlidOfity f6gime'ities. But they too went back on their word,

    {

    gan to deteriorate. Villagers complained tothe authorities that we were unclean. Some-times they attacked us physically. No one waswilling to protect us, not even undergroundmembers of Solidarity.

    'After a while, we were denied any kind ofsocial aid, especially welfare payments. Gra-dually, we lost the few rights we had, andeventually we were utterly ostracised. Whenvillagers started to burn our houses while thepolice turned a blind eye, we knew it was timeto leave.

    'For that, we had to offer the authoritiesbribes of the gold that our families had savedin the form of rings, necklaces and earrings.

    We had no choice, it seemed to us, but to pay.Yet the police pocketed the bribes withoutturning their backs, as they had promisedthey would if we tried to take our families

    and tried to prevent our crossing the border.'In the end, my family did what most of the

    Polish Gypsies have been doing: we escapedby stealth, crossing the border at difflcultpoints via old roads we had known for yearswhere there were no customs posts, or by hid-ing in the cars of non-Gypsies we had also

    bribed. 'Other families bribed the authoritiesfor tourist visas and travelled through Hun-gary, Romania and Czechoslovakia to Yugos-lavia. From Belgrade, they phoned Gypsieswho had already obtained Dutch-residentstatus, to drive out to pick them up and smug-gle them into Holland. I am ashamed to saythat this too required large bribes - to our fel-low Gypsies.'

    Stanislavska lost a lot, apart from money.His wife of 16 years, a non-Gypsy, gave in tothe pressure of prejudice and left him withtheir son, determined to bring him up as aPole, not a Romany. Only one of his threebrothers, Rudolf, had survived Auschwitzand Stanislavska has virtually lost contactwith him, too.

    Initially, Stanislavska and Rudolf bothreached the Netherlands and, they hoped,politicai asylum.

    But after his application for ayslum was re-jected, Rudolf went back to Poland to helpothers of his family who had been unable toescape. He was, says Stanislavska, im-mediately jailed - because he had the temerityto present himself to the Dutch authorities asa political refugee.

    After six months, Rudolf was released tohis home village, where he languishes still,trying to get treatment for his asthma.

    Rudolf was unlucky; Stanislavska wondersfor how long his own luck will hold. He is hid-ing in an Amsterdam suburb. With some re-latives, he is part of a clan of eight familiessquatting in some of the unlet apartments of ahousing estate at Bijlmermeer. Every knockon the door may mean a hurried move to ancw flat, further along the concrete corridors.

  • ROPE 8

    i,sg What the EEG is doingThe EEC has passed several resolutionson Gypsies and other nomadic peoplesin Europe. Document l-1544, in 1983,calls on member states to provide stop-ping places or adequate housing, educa-tion and training for nomads, and to enddiscriminatory policies.

    The Commission has iust announcedits 1985-88 anti-poverty programme,which offers f,15.5 million - to be match-ed by member states - for combatingpoverty among the under-privileged, in-cluding'Gypsies, nomads, travellersand refugees'.

    The EEC is now considering fundingacademics from the l0 member states,who have been asked to contribute to areport on the education of Gypsies inEurope. See also nunoronum, page (iv).

    The outhor's photogrophs show Gypsiesof the Xoroxone onil Monouche clons, inthei r seorch for soncluory in Europe,comping in the Bois de Boulogne. Ocomoino in the Bois de Bouloone- Onlv inHollirndhove they found o syilpothetitreceotion: the couole oooosite hod iustreception: the couple opposite hod iuscontrocled o civil morriooe of Utrecht.controcied o civil morrioge ot

    These Polish Gypsies are starving, unable toclaim social security, without any kind ofleg-al status.

    It is diffrcult, nevertheless, not to feel sym-pathy for the Dutch authorities. In the late1970s, similar emigrations of Gypsies weremade from Yugoslavia. Hundreds of Gypsiesspent months trying to find a haven in \West-ern Europe, finally winning help from liberalsympathisers in the Netherlands. After muchcampaigning, the Gypsies achieved a mea-sure of victory: 750 of them were granted resi-dent status, to be reviewed annually.

    To the Netherlands Government's chag-rin, but to the surprise of few, other Gypsiescame to believe that their best hope of apermanent home lay with the Dutch.

    The 750 were given houses and socialsecurity benefits, and both children andadults were offered schooling. The Dutch arejustly proud of their educational achieve-ments: many of the Romany children excel-led in class, although the adults did not al-ways complete their vocational training, inmanual skills and the Dutch language.

    Now Holland, while wanting to honourCouncil of Europe resolutions against theharassment of nomads, is wondering quitewhat to do with subsequent influxes.

    The authorities are occasionally less thanadroit in dealing with the legally residentRomanies. Stevica Nicolic, a Zagreb-bornGypsy who now runs a successful import-export business in south Holland, told the tri-bunal of dawn raids on Gypsy homes. Hesaid:

    'Twenty-five young Yugoslav-born Roma-nies had brought in French and Italian Gypsywomen to marry, when one morning the

    'These people oreunobleto clqim sociqlsecurity, without onykind oflegol stqtus'-

    but particularly in Ireland and Great Britain,Gypsies and other travelling peoplehad trou-ble enrolling their children in schools, be-cause many districts had the legal right to banthem from their areas and could quickly evictany who tried to stay. No camping placemeans no school place. Other nomads re-ported similar problems in France, West Ger-many and Italy.

    The tribunal's call to the countries of theEEC is that all Gypsies who are nomadsshould be permitted to travel and be offeredtransit camp-sites to rentl and that theyshould have access to education, both in theirown language and in that of their host coun-try. Sadly, it will take many more Romaniki-si, Gypsy tribunals, before they win a secureplace among the citizens of Europe. Gl

    t5

    police pushed their doors down and took thewives away,, putting them on planes to Bel-grade. But that was not tieir home, and theywere thrown into jail.

    After a few days, when the situation be-came clearer to the authorities, the womenwere deported from Yugoslavia. They had tomake their way back to Holland, where theyare now on the run from the law.'

    A more general struggle is for education.The tribunal heard that, in much of Europe,

  • ROPE 85

    'Most people in most countries do notwant to be nrn from Brussels...'

    willingness among member states to movetowards true European union

    CHRISTOPHER TUGENDHAT, Aformer Vice-President of the EuropeanCommission, sees some sigrs of a new

    pean level.The way forward must be through bringing the member states

    together in a network ofco-operative ventures that will enable them toovercome problems that would otherwise be beyond them, and toachieve together what they could not achieve alone. To some this maynot seem as dramatic, or even as inspiring, an approach as that whichtakes as its starting-point a massive transfer of powers to the centre,and as its ultimate objective the creation of a United States of Europeon the Americal model. But in practice it is likely to prove more dur-able and more capable of achieving the first objective of the Treaty ofRome, namely an 'ever closer union among the peoples of Europe.'Byunion I mean a sense of common purpose and shared interests thattranscends the individual identies ofthe separate states.

    \[hat is now needed, above all, is a new programme for action onthe basis of which all member states and the Community institutionscan work. It should be a Community equivalent of the programmeswhich political parties negotiate before governments are formed inthose countries where coalitions are the normal form of government.Inevitably it will be a compromise. No country will get all it wants,and some objectives will have to be set aside until circumstances orgovernments in other countries change. But everyone will know whatthey have agreed to try to achieve, the balance ofadvantage to whichthey can look forward, and the costs they have undertaken to incur.

    The European Council should formally undertake responsibilityfor this task, and organise its work accordingly. That means that on aregular basis - say once a year, or once every two years - it would agreeon a set of obiectives for the Community to work towards during theperiod ahead. !7here appropriate, deadlines would be set, but thiswould not always be the best way to proceed.

    At present, the European Council meets three times a year, whichshould provide ample scope to monitor progress and make sure that itsinstructions are being followed. From time to time it will wish to pushthings along faster than they are going, and on others to make adjust-ments in the light of unexpected difficulties. The communiques and'invitations' which it already issues to the Council of Ministers will en-able it to do so.

    Inevitably, disputes will arise between member states about whatwas originally intended and how it should be attained. After everyEuropean Council, ministers and officials who feel that their particu-lar'man'(or even 'woman') did not achieve all he should, or play hiscards quite right, try to pull things back in the Council of lVl.inisters,working parties, and wherever else they can. Moreover, quite apartfrom these problems, the European Council cannot be expected to domore than establish a framework. The individual Councils of Minis-ters must fill in the details, which is bound to require much negotia-tion and argument.

    If the resultant dispute cannot be resolved at that level, they willhave to be referred back to the European Council for a judgement. Butthat should be an exceptional procedure to be resorted to only in casesofdire necessity. The European Council should not become a constantCourt of Appeal. Its task should be to set the course for others to fol-low, which only it can do.

    The role of the Commission in Community aftairs is important andmust be preserved. It brings together political figures from all mem-ber states and exists to ensure that member states fulfil their obliga-tions, to represent the general interest in the welter of national onesand to point the way ahead, but also drawing the attention of memberstates to new and more daring possibilities.

    Therein lies the Commission's dilemma. Only by influencing theEuropean Council can it get its ideas transformed into action and onlythe European Council can commit the goverrrments of member statesand break deadlocks in the subordinate Councils of Ministers. Yet itdepends for its continued existence on the European Parliament,which alone has the power to dismiss it and to whichitmust constantly

    here has recently been aburst of rhetoric from anumber of capitals and theEuropean Parliament ab-

    out European Union and theneed to take a new step in thatdirection. Heads of governmenthave made speeches, commit-tees have been set up, resolu-tions have been passed and thereis much talk of a new Treaty.

    lfhether or not that particu-lar idea comes to fruition, thereis a sense of movement in the air.One has the feeling of ice break-ing up and spring approaching.

    The words'European Union'create a good deal ofdifficulty inEnglish. They sound clear andfirm, like 'United Kingdom' or'United States', and are often taken toconvey the same sort of meaning. In other languages and cultures theyimply something less precise and more compatible with separatenational identities. In English, the concepts ofEuropean Union andthe continued existence of the nation state seem, ab initio, to be in-compatible with each other. Elsewhere, that is by no means necessari-ly the case. To some, European Union does represent an ambition toreplace the nation state; but to most the two are complementary con-cepts. The nation state and the European Union are seen as enhancingeach other, with the latter dependent on the former, extending itsscope for effective action and preventing the rivalries inherent in itfrom running out ofcontrol.

    It is important to grasp this point, otherwise the debate about howthe Community should take advantage of the opportunities now fac-ing it, which underlies all the rhetoric, could once again divide Britainfrom its partners. Instead of concentrating on taking practical stepstogetler, they could become involved in insoluble arguments aboutsemantics that in the end only linguists would even understand. Thatwould be a great pity.

    For my part, I have no doubt about the way forward. It is now clearthat the hopes which were widespread at the time of the Community'sbirth, that the nation state would wither and die, were misplaced. Itretains a unique capacity to inspire loyalty and obedience; and formost people in most countdes national pride and patriotism remainintegral and essential elements in their sense of self. The taith in largecentralised units, and the efficacy of'planning', have also been des-troyed by experience. The idea that markets and competition are morelikely to lead to the greatest good of the greatest number is enjoying arevival, and by no means only in countries with ostensibly right of cen-tre govemments.

    For these reasons the Community cannot be expected to develop ina supranational fashion, nor is it possible to conceive of a massivetransfer of responsibilities from the national to the Community in-stitutions. Most people in most countries do not want to be run fromBrussels. Moreover, at a time when national governments themselvesare trying to decentralise and to divest themselves of responsibilities,it is absurd to advocate moving in the opposite direction at the Euro-l6

  • ROPE 85

    answer. The Commission must, therefore, continuously engage in abalancing act, the difficulties ofwhich are rarely appreciated by thosewho have not had to undergo the experience.

    At this luncture I would not advocate any change in the EuropeanParliament's powers. It is still very much in the shaking-down phaseof its existence, and trying to find a role. It has by no means exploredthe limits of the potential influence available to it under the presentrules, nor even begun to establish itself in the public mind.

    The Parliament claims to have a mandate from the people of Europeand to speak on their behalf, but in truth that is not the case. TheEuropean elections in 1984, as in 1979, were really so many nationalelections in which people voted overwhelmingly on the basis ofnational issues and considerations. One day all that may change - Ihope it does; but in the meanwhile it is for the Parliament to prove it-self, in which case it will be able to increase its influence, not for othersto thrust powers prematurely upon it.

    Contrary to what is often supposed in Britain, the Community isperfectly capable of developing in a pragmatic fashion. Indeed, theEuropean Monetary System illustrates very well one possible versionof the new style co-operation that I have in mind. At the outset therewas a deep desire that everyone should participate. But when it be-came apparent that the British were not prepared to commit them-selves as fully as the rest, and in part