Towards the E.D.C.' Treaty All at the moment is going
well with the European Defence Treaty. Its ratification by the Bundestag by the unexpectedly large majority of 224 votes to 165 must have the effect of strong moral pressure on France, which can hardly be pre- pared to accept the invidious role of the single Power to stand in the way of the unification of Western Europe. At least equally important in relation to French ratification is the agreement reached by representatives of all the six E.D.C. States on the protocols which France imperatively insisted on attaching to the treaty. The agreement has still to be approved by the respective Governments, but if the French and German negotiators are in accord it is reasonably certain that their principals will be. But there are still hurdles across the course. The first is the Bundesrat, or Upper House, at Bonn. Dr. Adenauer does not command a majority there, and while it seems likely none the less that the Bill embodying the treaty will get through with a few votes to spare, there will still remain the second hurdle, in the shape of a decision by the Supreme Court at Karlsruhe on the question whether certain provisions in the Bill involve a change in the constitution, which would re- quire for enactment a two-thirds majority of the Bundestag —which Dr. Adenauer does not command, and is not very likely to command after this year's general election. But one obstacle must be dealt with at a time as it presents itself. The Bundestag vote was one of the chief of them, and it has been triumphantly surmounted. The confidence the Bundestag has shown in Dr. Adenauer should strengthen his position throughout Western Europe, and particularly in France.
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