The Great Debate
Speaking European.
By W. Horsfall Carter. . 28s.) Lewis J. Edinger. (Stan-
and Tomorrow. By Peter , 52s. 6d.)
BRITAIN'S second application to join the Com- mon Market is now in the course of prepara- tion. There has been no overt proclamation of intent, but there is such a steady trickle of ex cathedra pronouncements that there is no doubt that a major shift in policy is in the pro- cess of taking place. The central question is: How should the British approach to Europe be made?
Mr. Horsfall Carter, in his carefully argued book, Speaking European, believes that Britain's policy should be to work through Anglo-French partnership `to the wider Europe: a Europe re- . maining in steadfast alliance with, but not sub- ordinate to, America.' He writes that President de Gaulle was right in 1963 when he rebuked Britain for her incapacity `to speak European.' He thinks that de Gaulle's ideas on confederation represent the practical political course and he rejects 'the federal fantasy' of the `professional Europeans.' As the author puts it: `De Gaulle, while perfectly willing to exploit the achieve- ments of the Community in the economic field, is convinced that its political aims are illusory because it ignores the facts of international politi- cal life.' As for Britain, Mr. Horsfall Carter does not really consider us a candidate for membership of the Community and he defines our objectives differently. He demands closer association with Europe and concludes: 'Now that President de Gaulle has cleared the thickets, we can set our course in this direction. It does not mean seeking to scramble aboard the moving train of the Six : it means "speaking European" sufficiently well to play our part in a European Association which will include, but not be con- fined to, the Brussels Community.'
Where does this get us? I suspect not very far. The reason is that events are beginning to overtake Speaking European. This is not the fault of the author, but it goes to show how difficult it is to write a book about such a fast- changing subject. Thus, in many ways, Mr. Horsfall Carter's thinking is a year behind; and the recent German diplomatic success in getting France back to her place in the Community is only one illustration of his difficulty. The shifts
in Whitehall are another. But if recent develop- ments on the French side towards a more understanding attitude towards Britain fall through, Mr. Horsfall Carter may yet turn out to be right.
What of the Germans? Professor Edinger's study of the first post-war leader of the German
SPD, Kurt Schumacher, begins to give an answer. His book is less a biography than an attempt to explain what motivated Schumacher. The pic- ture that emerges is of an incredible human spirit, unbroken by concentration camps and physical handicap. The reader also gets an understanding of the situation in Germany im- mediately after the end of the war and of diffi- culties that Schumacher and others had to overcome. Schumacher was a man from an earlier political era—intolerant, abrasive and in- capable of seeing the end of the European pro- letariat. It was natural, therefore that he came into conflict with men like Ernst Reuter. But Schumacher served a great purpose. His integrity was of the kind that helps to create democracy and his country needed him desperately in his fleeting years of political prominence. I read Professor Edinger avidly.
For all its faults, I sense that the Germany of the Erhard-Brandt era is much more healthy than the Weimar Republic, and part of the new Germany's health is due to the way in which young Germans have been seized by the ideal of European unity—one of the great ideas of our day. Mr. Merkl's Germany : Yesterday and Tomorrow brings out my point and gives an admirable description of Adenauer's influence on modern Germany. No longer is it possible for a British Prime Minister to speak of events in Europe as a 'quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing'! Every nuance of political affairs in each Euro- pean country is of vital concern to us if we are to think ourselves to be Europeans. These books are part of the great debate.
DESMOND DONNELLY
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