Decision at Bonn
With the ratification of the Schuman Plan by the West German Bundestag the crucial test of practice has come sensibly nearer. Before many months have passed the plan for a European coal and steel community will go into effect in the three stages laid down in the treaty signed last April. There will be a " preparatory period," beginning when the last three signatories—Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg—have --ratified the treaty; in this period the institutions of the com- munity will be set up and a common market created. Then comes a " transition period," beginning with the creation of the common market and ending five years later. After that the plan enters upon the main phase of its 50-year life. Dr. Adenauer was no doubt looking forward to the grand sweep of the project when, at Bonn last week, he put the main emphasis on its ultiniate aim of European unity. That, at an historic moment, was the right attitude to take. The Chancellor deeply impressed the Bundestag with the importance of its decision, with the achievement represented by this fundamental agreement between Germany and France, and with the need to press on to the next stage in the movement towards unity, which is the creation of a European Army. But while the grand design is worked out there remains the hard task of integrating the coal and steel industries of Western Europe—the task which first brought all the post-war aspirations towards unity down to a practical level. That is the task that must be tackled later this year, and it must be tackled with success if the aspirations are to retain their power to convince.
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