Fanfare for Europe

LORD OLIVIER and Dame Sybil Thorndike promised readings from famous speeches from the past. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were scheduled to attend. The occasion this week is a planned "celebration in words and music," in London's Royal Opera House, marking Britain's historic entry into the European Economic Community. The celebration is part of an eleven-day "Fanfare for Europe" planned by the Tory government of Prime Minister Edward Heath, at a cost of $825,000. Among its flourishes will be a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall, a "Poets of Europe" reading at Lincoln's Inn, and a soccer match between all-star teams from the old Common Market Six, and the three new members: Britain, Ireland and Denmark.

Most Britons were more inclined to view the event with resignation, opposition or, like TV comedian Benny Hill, as an occasion for satire. The latest poll shows 49% of Britons still opposed to Common Market entry and only 37% in favor. English housewives worry that their food prices will skyrocket to Common Market levels. Their fears are shared by shopkeepers who are up in arms over the extra record keeping that will be required when Britain adopts the Continental-style value added tax--essentially, a 10% sales levy that will hit virtually everything from razor blades to Rolls-Royces.

On the other side of the Channel, Britain's entry is eagerly awaited by the dedicated prounionists of Brussels, since it will add a balancing third voice to what is all too often a French-German colloquy. The British will also bring fresh enthusiasm to the councils of Europe, and the spirit of parliamentary debate may raise the present level of intramural bickering in the Common Market's governing bodies.

The larger question is whether Britain's enthusiasm can prove catching on a Continent increasingly apathetic toward the EEC; the answer is, probably not. Most Europeans today seem numbed by the subject of unity. The Common Market has seemingly little relevance to their worries over inflation, which is running at an average of 7% a year, or pollution, urban problems, education, distribution of income.

Backlog. Europe's leaders could find themselves united if they feel compelled to form a common front against the U.S. Transatlantic relations have slipped badly during Washington's years of preoccupation with Viet Nam, and when Henry Kissinger told Willy Brandt in Munich last September that 1973 was to be the "year of Europe," the Chancellor responded with a heartfelt "ah, at last." Viet Nam still intervenes, but merely postpones a growing list of issues. In the words of Political Scientist Frederick Northedge, of the School of International Relations at the London School of Economics: "There is a backlog of mutual adjustment to be made. Kissinger is aware of the possibilities of misalignment with Europe, and is trying to avoid them."

Those possibilities exist on two broad fronts: defense and trade. Many Europeans are wary of detente between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The fears center on the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in Geneva, where the U.S. and Russia are trying to limit their offensive arsenals, including the bombers that Europeans regard as part of their own nuclear defense umbrella. Early this year the U.S.--with six of its NATO allies--will begin discussions on mutual and balanced force reduction with the Soviets. To West Germans, for instance, the ultimate nightmare would be to lose simultaneously both the U.S. nuclear umbrella and the protective presence of American troops.

At the same time, Europeans feel mounting pressure from Washington on trade. A so-called "Nixon Round" of talks aimed at lowering tariffs is scheduled to take place next fall. France's former Prime Minister Maurice Couve de Murville notes that if the U.S. succeeds in pressuring Europe into lowering tariff barriers significantly, "the Common Market will disappear in two or three years." Similarly, Washington is trying to coordinate trade discussions with negotiations now under way on monetary reform, a link that particularly irritates the French.

Europeans fear that they could be ground between U.S. policies on both fronts--that Washington might demand economic concessions under the threat of folding its military umbrella. Andrew Shonfield, director of London's Royal Institute of International Affairs, fears that the U.S. may take an excessively short-term, hardheaded approach to the American national interest. J. Robert Schaetzel, former U.S. Ambassador to the EEC, has noted a worrisome "drift toward mutual hostility."

How will Europe respond? "The central question on the economic side," says a Cabinet-level member of the Brandt government, "is whether the EEC countries will take a united stand against American demands. The answer is yes, if the Americans come at us with a club." Beyond that, however, is the question of what sort of united stand Europe might take. Historian Arnold Toynbee worries that there is a "real danger" of Europe turning Gaullist, meaning that the EEC as a whole might adopt a parochial, protectionist attitude. Toynbee predicts that "inside the Common Market there will be a great debate about [outside] policy. The French will want to defy the U.S. The Germans and the British will be for cooperation with the U.S., because it will be in their economic interests. The Germans will prevail in the end because of their economic power." But the clear warning is that the U.S. could easily overplay its hand, and find itself opposed by a united and hostile Europe.

Fortunately, there are signs that the U.S. has recognized the danger, and is drawing back from the aggressive economic nationalism that was the trademark of former Treasury Secretary John Connally. President Nixon--who hopes to visit Europe in the coming year --has put his prestige behind the monetary negotiations. Kissinger advance men are scouting the attitudes of European countries. Washington will hear directly from Heath when the British Prime Minister comes calling later this month. Though any special relationship between the governments of the U.S. and Britain has long disappeared, Britain's entry into Europe is bound to make the coming negotiations more evenly balanced, possibly more temperate, and conceivably more given to compromise.

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