Approaching the Union
TliE tortuous arguments on a European political union which have been going on among the Six members of the EEC since last July may now be coming to an end. Some kind of compromise was, it seems, agreed between President de Gaulle and Signor Fanfani last week and has been confirmed between Signor Fanfani and Dr. Adenauer. Under it the French will prob- ably get their political secretariat in Paris and have the threat removed of an early revision of the new treaty; the Benelux countries presumably get safeguards for the existing Com- munities and for NATO. If this sort of thing has been definitely agreed by the three large powers. the Dutch and Belgians will require an almost impossible strength of purpose to. stand out against it.
The prospect of imminent agreement poses diffi- cult problems for Britain. The whole controversy ha l been conducted on the basis, at first sight paradoxical, that those whose conception of Europe is the most supranational and therefore farthest from the official British line (i.e.. the Dutch) have been most in favour of bringing us into the discussion, while those whose general ideas are nearest our own (i.e., the French) have been most resolutely opposed to it. This is because the Dutch believe that Britain in Europe will be a useful counterweight to France while the French do not want to reduce their leverage in the Brussels negotiations by giving us some- thing for nothing. Thus we have been unable to demand a place in the talks without risking a toughening of the French attitude in Brussels and we have been unable to stay entirely aloof from them without dispiriting the Dutch, our most per- sistent advocates among the Six.
There has been the added complication that the attention being paid in Britain by both parties to the political implications of the Rome Treaty would make it extremely dangerous for Mr.
'A book a year, eh, Mr. Djads? And a year a book, too,' Heath to give the impression of having been forced - to sign a new political treaty on the dotted line as the price of entry to the Common Market.
' Seen in this context, Mr. Heath's speech to WEU on Tuesday was understandably placatory. It stakes out a claim for an early part in the talks and steers a course more or less the same as the supposed Fanfani compromise. The trouble is that it is rcry doubtful if President de Gaulle is prepared to give way on the issue of British participation without a much more radi- cal British counter-concession- -such as a sharing of our nuclear deterrent with France. The British Government is probably prepared to do this within the framework of NATO, and Mr. Heath's remarks about the need for a common outlook on many subjects 'including defence' were perhaps a delicate' hint to that ellect. But whatever is to be done (and the nuclear business must obviously be sorted out with the Americans) will have to be done quickly. The. Brussels negotiations are approaching their climax and a hold-up on the political side might have disastrous effects oil them.
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