How to get Europe moving again

Abstract

In 1984, the interlocking set of problems that had beset the European Community for so long and combined to threaten so many of the high hopes of the post-referendum period were, at last, either resolved or at least eased by the laying down of guidelines for their resolution. I refer, of course, to the settlement of the British contribution to the Community budget, the imposition of milk quotas (the first really serious attempt to tackle the problem of agricultural surpluses), the introduction of a new approach to budgetary discipline, and the agreement on extending the Community's financial 'own resources -which has yet to be ratified by national parliaments. The consequence of all this is that Britain has been released from the cage in which it had been imprisoned by the contribution dispute, and the Community as a whole has been freed to devote its energies to new challenges. The negotiations on the enlargement of the Community to include Spain and Portugal were also brought to their final stages in 1984, and have now been completed. When they enter, a process which began in 1961 with Britain's first application to join the Community will have been brought to a conclusion. (it is hard to see any other applicants on the horizon at present.) It is difficult to overestimate the disruption to the running of the Community that has been caused by the continued need to prepare for enlargement negotiations, engage in them and adjust to their consequences-and, in recent years, to do all three at once. This is therefore an important moment for the Community. Whatever problems the adjustment stage with Spain and Portugal may bring, the Community is on the verge for the first time in twenty-five years of being able to look forward to a period of stable membership. It is against such a background that there has recently been a burst of rhetoric from a number of capitals and in the European Parliament about European union and the need to take a new step in that direction. Heads of government have made speeches, committees have been set up, resolutions have been passed and there is much talk of a new treaty. Whether or not that particular idea comes to fruition-and it would be a mistake to see it in black-and-white terms-there is a sense of movement in the air. One has the feeling of ice breaking up and spring approaching. The words 'European union' create a good deal of difficulty in the English language. They sound clear and firm, like 'United Kingdom' or 'United States', and are often taken to convey the same sort of meaning. In other languages and cultures they imply something less precise, more compatible with separate national identities. In English the concepts of European union and the continued existence of the nation state seem by definition to be incompatible with each other. Elsewhere, that is by no means necessarily the case. To some, European union does represent an ambition to replace the nation state, but to most the two are complementary concepts. The nation state and