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Wednesday, December 20, 2006
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The European Union Turns Fifty
In March of 2007 Europe and the United States will observe one of the most important anniversaries of the post-Second World War era. This date marks the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the document which established the European Economic Community (EEC) among six countries - Germany , France , Italy , the Netherlands , Belgium and Luxembourg . Fifty years later, the EEC is now called the European Union (EU) and proudly boasts a membership of 27 nations.
The road from EEC to EU has been long and often difficult. The ultimate goals of its founding fathers are far from being achieved. But even so, the EU has grown far beyond its original task of harmonizing tariffs and trade among its six original members, to become a community of more than 450 million inhabitants stretching from Ireland and Portugal in the West to Estonia and Finland in the East. It unites the traditional democracies of Western Europe with the newly emerged democracies of the former Soviet bloc. It even includes three members, the Baltic states of Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania , that between 1941 and 1992 were illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union .
As such, the EU can already be described as one of history's greatest accomplishments. Built on the ruins of the Second World War, the framework for economic and political cooperation provided by the EU has made possible not only the rebuilding of the continent and the reconciliation of former enemies, but also the incorporation of a large portion of Europe into a community of nations determined to construct a democratic political federation across the entire continent.
The EU today is one of the world's leading economies and its largest trading community. It has established a common currency, the Euro, which has joined the Dollar and the Yen as an important international means of exchange. The European Parliament is a directly elected legislative body organized on party, rather than national lines. Fledgling European Security and Defense Cooperation has begun to undertake vital peacekeeping missions in many parts of the world. Cooperation among member states has extended to virtually every area of public interest, both at home and abroad.
Together with the United States and Canada , the member nations of the EU build a trans-Atlantic democratic community of nearly a billion persons. This cooperation is embodied most directly in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has guarded our mutual security since its founding in 1949.
As the EU has expanded, many new areas of close trans-Atlantic cooperation have been agreed. The EU speaks officially for its members at international trade negotiations and in the World Trade Organization, WTO. Equally as important is the close coordination between the European Central Bank and the United States Federal Reserve System and Treasury Department on the critical issues connected with maintenance of international financial stability. Of growing importance is an active EU antitrust effort and close coordination in the international war against terrorism. In each of these areas, the EU is an essential framework for broader international cooperation. No single European country could offer the breadth of cooperation made possible by the EU.
The roots of today's EU go back to the early postwar years. Determined to banish once and for all the destructive nationalism which had taken Europe to war three times in 75 years, leaders on both sides of the Atlantic called for building a European political union. The goal was described dramatically by Britain 's great wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill as nothing less than a United States of Europe.
Europe 's American allies took important first steps towards European unity in 1948 with establishment of the European Recovery Program, popularly known as the Marshall Plan after its founder Secretary of State George C. Marshall. The Marshall Plan provided credits to those European countries that wished to participate, for the reconstruction of their towns and their factories. But these credits came with a condition. The money could be applied only on the basis of a joint program, worked out among the countries of Europe for the rebuilding of their continent. The Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) was born.
This theme of economic cooperation was taken a step further in 1951, when Germany and France agreed to pool their industries with those of four other countries into the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). This was the first European initiative for economic integration. A similar effort to join Europe 's military forces into a single army proved to be somewhat premature and it failed when voted down by the French parliament. But it too added to the momentum of cooperation which culminated in signature of the Treaty of Rome.
A step-by-step practical approach to unity has become the trademark of the EU. Over the years areas of cooperation among members have steadily increased. Important subjects such as trade, agriculture, health standards and others have been added to the original mandate of the Treaty of Rome. A major step forward was establishment of a truly unified single market for industrial and agriculture trade in 1992.
The vision behind these economic steps has from the beginning been Churchill's call for political unity. Important milestones include establishment of the European Parliament and successive unification treaties signed in the 1980s and 1990s. A common program for military security was established in 1998. Even though its member states maintain responsibility for foreign policy and security matters, areas of cooperation overseas have also grown.
So, as its reaches fifty both the EU and its American partners can be proud of what they have achieved. But as 2007 approaches, it has also become clear that the postwar period embodied in the Treaty of Rome has long since come to an end. The formalized structures of the EU which demand consensus on most important issues are slow and inefficient. The large bureaucracy and expensive common programs for agriculture, industrial development and research no longer serve to stimulate necessary economic growth. The strains of enlargement from six to twenty-seven members has made progress on unification very difficult. And the twin challenges of aging of the population and globalization have turned the European social welfare state from an advantage to an expensive burden.
European populations sometimes seem to have lost touch with the original vision of the Treaty of Rome. They are looking more to individual needs in their home countries. This growing disinterest was reflected in failure of the European Constitutional Project in 2005.
This anniversary of the Treaty of Rome is as important for Americans as it is for Europeans. Our task today is every bit as great as it was in 1957, but the road ahead is not yet clear. One thing is clear, however. America and Europe compose the largest and strongest group of democracies in the world. If we are to ensure a democratic future for ourselves and the rest of the world, we must work together. That is why it is important to understand the role of the European Union on the interests of the United States . And that it why it is very fitting to wish our European cousins a warm happy birthday on this important date.
John Kornblum was US Ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001. Since 2001 he has been Chairman of the investment bank Lazard Germany . [www.europa.eu]
