De Gonk v de Gaulle
COMMON MARKET MARC LANVAL
Rome—Two men arrived at the Common Market summit meeting on Tuesday with very
precise ideas: President de. Gaulle and Mr Joseph Luns, the everlasting Dutch foreign minister. De Gaulle wanted to show that political cooperation between the Six could go ahead without the participation of Great Britain, and Mr Luns wanted the Six to agree to regard the British application as their num- ber one priority and admit that no political progress could be made with Britain out- side.
Some sixty people, ministers and officials, were there to watch the fight which lasted from 10.30 am to 2 pm in the Italian foreign ministry, the Farnesina, as they call the huge white pastry started before the war before Mus- solini. In the view of the majority President de Gaulle won, but since Dr Luns does not share this view, and is even convinced that he won himself, it is up to each of us to form his own opinion. Here is what is known of the facts.
After the preliminary speeches, the first round was devoted to the British application as such without going into its implications. Presi- dent de Gaulle, who, throughout the meeting, behaved in the most gentle fashion, gave the French view, which was, he said, that 'nobody should be for or against British entry as a matter of principle. There are problems, and these problems should be studied in depth before the start of any negotiations.'
'There is a Treaty,' replied Mr Luns's prime minister, Mr Piete de Gonk, 'and Article 237 is very clear about applications. The Council of Ministers should advise the Commission to start negotiations. This means,' he said to the General, `that you could exercise a veto, but that would be your own responsibility. Don't ask us to embark on lengthy studies of problems which, in our view, exist entirely, in your own head.'
The result of this confrontation was that the meeting decided that the council of foreign ministers would begin to examine the British application at their regular meeting in Brussels next Monday. There is, however, a misunder- standing. In the French view all that the ministers will do is to launch a general discus- sion of the possible effects of British entry on the Community. In the Dutch and Belgian view the ministers should not wait but go straight ahead and advise the commission to begin negotiations. The ministers in fact will prob-. ably ask the advice of the commission in July, but as the French see it the request will be couched in such comprehensive terms as to en- sure that the commission will have to take a considerable time before being able to report back.
From the discussions in Rome it also appears
that the German government is unready to press the French too hard on matters of agenda. When somebody wants to enter a house,' said Chancellor Kiesinger, 'all the inhabitants of that house should be in agreement. If one of them is reluctant, the others should try and convince him. No doubt this will take time. But mean- while the British should be invited to state their views.' And here there was a second misunder- standing. The General maintained that the British should not be asked to state their case before the Six themselves had reached agree- ment. 'Agreement about what?' demanded the Dutch and Belgians, and apparently also the Italians. 'If we do not know what changes to the Treaty the British will ask for, the discus- sion would be pure philosophy.' Here we stand. The question is not solved now and probably will •not be solved in the near future.
The second round of the fight was about political cooperation between the Six and was begun by Chancellor Kiesinger. 'We need to speak with one voice,' he said; 'and whatever the difficulties are (i.e. whatever our misgivings about the British application) we should not refuse to work together.' President de Gaulle took him up and said there was certainly no shortage of subjects—the German problem, for example, and the question of a common approach to Russia and the Eastern countries. That, he maintained, was of great interest to all. Chancellor Kiesinger grinned and the General added: let our foreign ministers have talks together with an agenda properly prepared by a specially appointed body.'
The mention of appointing some new com- mittee caused an uproar. There could be no formal process for meeting without the British,
said Mr de Gonk. Tor one thing,' he added, 'the British are as much interested in this kind of subject as we are. For pother, we should not embark on new institutions if we do not make sure beforehand that they would not make British entry any more difficult.' It seems that the Dutch prime minister implied that his government might not be ready to participate in any talks of the foreign ministers unless the French first show some proof of their willing- ness to see negotiations with Britain.
President de Gaulle spoke again and ad- dressed himself to the Dutch delegation. He smiled and tried to be persuasive. 'Look here,' he said, 'here we are together today—six heads of state, or of government—and we are very well off as we are. We should meet again and next time have an agenda prepared in advance.' It was already about 1.30 pm and rather late, and the proposals seemed very difficult to refuse. When a meeting fails to reach much agreement, what better thing than to arrange to meet again?
The next meeting, says the communiqué, 'will probably take place this year.' All of this prob- ably accounts for the general uncertainty over what is to be the procedure regarding the British application.
Previous page
