Closed Door to Europe A brief but busy visit to
Paris last week con- vinces me that, for all Mr Brown's European speeches, at the present time, France—what- ever sweet nothings she may murmur—has no intention of admitting Britain to the Common Market. Of course she would like to gain the benefits of Anglo-French co-operation --particu- larly in the technological field without paying the price of lifting the EEC veto, but this is a course that has considerable dangers for Britain.
Two barriers, in particular. stand out. The first is the state of the British economy and the sterling area. Here I find that many Frenchmen confuse the two, in that they assume that our economic predicament is somehow caused by the sterling area, which must therefore be disbanded before we can join the EEC There are even some Englishmen in positions of responsibility who ought to know better but have convinced them- selves that this is so. If it were, the outlook would be even more depressing, since there is simply no realistic way of lifting the sterling area burden from Britain without placing some of it, at least, on the shoulders of France and Germany. Fortunately, however, this is no more the cause of our problems than the franc area was responsible for France's economic mess in 1958: and although we have certainly got to put our own house in order we must explain to the French that this has nothing to do with the sterling area.
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