Table Of ContentEurope at the Dawn of the
Millennium
Paul Preston and Carlos Fuentes
Europe at the Dawn of
the Millennium
Enrique Baron
Member of the European Parliament
Brussels
Forewords by
Paul Preston
and
Carlos Fuentes
First published in Great Britain 1997 by
flfl MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-333-65050-6 hardcover
ISBN 0-333-65051-4 paperback
M First published in the United States of America 1997 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 0-312-16575-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baron, Enrique.
Europe at the dawn of the millennium / Enrique Baron ; forewords by
Paul Preston and Carlos Fuentes.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-312-16575-7
1. European federation. I. Title.
D1060.B27 1996
341.24'2—dc20 96-41004
CIP
© Enrique Baron 1997
Foreword © Paul Preston 1997
Foreword © Carlos Fuentes 1997
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with
written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by
the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Contents
List of Abbreviations viii
Foreword by Paul Preston xi
Prologue by Carlos Fuentes xvi
Introduction xxi
Foreword for the English Version xxxiii
1 A Ramble Round Historic Maastricht 1
A Crossroads 3
Imperial Footsteps: From Charlemagne 4
... to the Universal Monarchy of Charles V 7
The Birth of the Low Countries 14
The French Revolution and Napoleon 15
German Unification 17
Hitler's New Europe 19
Community Versus Empire 20
2 An Open-Ended Constitutional Process 24
Setting History to Rights 25
The Congress of Europe 27
Europe and Freedom 32
Democracy: Deficit or Surplus? 33
3 The Community Labyrinth 38
European Council and Council of the Union 41
The European Commission 46
The European Parliament 51
The Power of the Court of Justice 57
4 The Gestation of the TEU 61
The Hand of History 62
From Walking Speed to Gallop 65
The IPC, the Beginning of Dialogue 68
The Interparliamentary Dialogue 71
Intergovernmental Conferences 75
5 The Treaty on European Union (TEU) 80
The Union's Objectives 81
v
VI Contents
Citizenship and Double Legitimacy 83
The Facade of the Union 86
The Investiture of the Commission 91
Democratic Complexity 92
The Regulation - Deregulation Dilemma 96
The Discovery of Subsidiarity 97
Federalism 102
The Constitutional Debate in Waiting 105
From the ECU, Illegitimate Child, to the Euro,
Sole Heir 112
Wallet or Purse 114
Recognition of the Son 117
The Economic and Monetary Pillar 119
The EMI Leading the Way 120
Sailing Towards Convergence 123
Stages Towards Convergence 123
What is Convergence? 125
To Sail or to Float 128
The Bermuda Triangle 129
The Culture of Stability 132
Is a Single Currency Inevitable? 134
Do Employment and Welfare Have a Future? 140
Duty-free Versus a Common Area 143
The Social Dimension and the Welfare State 147
GATT is Not Trade Alone 152
The Creation of Jobs 158
Towards the Knowledge Society 163
Europe and the World 165
The CFSP 168
The Different Europes 173
Reinforcement or Enlargement? 176
Central and Eastern Europe 177
The Tragedy of Yugoslavia 180
The Future of Russia and the Collapse of the
Empire 183
A Common Market in the Middle East 185
Regional Developments 186
Transatlantic Relations 187
Contents vii
Epilogue 194
Glossary 199
Notes 215
Index 221
List of Abbreviations
ACP Lome Agreement beween the EC
and 69 African, Caribbean and
Pacific countries
APEC Asian - Pacific Economic
Cooperation
CAP Common Agricultural Policy
CECA (or EAEC) European Atomic Energy
Community
CEDEFOP European Centre for
Development of Vocational
Training
CFSP Common Foreign and Security
Policy
CIS Commonwealth of Independent
States
COMECON Council for Mutual Economic
Assistance
COREPER Committee of the Permanent
Representatives (of the
governments of the countries)
CSCE Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe
DG Directorate-General (of the
Commission)
EAGGF European Agricultural Guideline
and Guarantee Fund
EBRD European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development
EC European Community
ECB European Central Bank
ECHO European Emergency
Humanitarian Aid Office
ECOFIN Council of Economic and Finance
Ministers
ECSC European Coal and Steel
Community'
ECU European Currency Unit
Vlll
List of Abbreviations IX
EDC European Defence Community
EDF European Development Fund
EEA European Economic Area
EEC European Economic Community
EFMC European Fund for Monetary
Cooperation
EFTA European Free Trade Association
EIB European Investment Bank
EMI European Monetary Institute
EMS European Monetary System
EMU Economic and Monetary Union
EP European Parliament
EPC European Political Cooperation
ERDF European Regional Development
Fund
ESC Economic and Social Committee
ESCB European System of Central Banks
ESF European Social Fund
EU European Union
EURATOM (or EAEC) European Atomic Energy
Community
EUROPOL European Police Office
FAO Food and Agriculture
Organization (UN)
FIR Air Traffic Control Centre
G7 Group of the world's seven most
industrialised and wealthy
Countries (Canada, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and
USA)
GATT General Agreement on Trade and
Tariffs
GDP Gross Domestic Product
IBRD International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development
IGC Intergovernmental Conference
ILO International Labour
Organization (UN)
IMF International Monetary Fund
MIT Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
X List of Abbreviations
NAFTA North American Free Trade Area
NATO North Adantic Treaty
Organization
NGO Non-governmental Organisation
OECD Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development
OPEC Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries
PES Party of European Socialists
PHARE Assistance for the Restructuring of
the Hungarian and Polish
Economies (extended in 1991 to
other Eastern European
Countries)
PIC Preparatory Interinstitutional
Conference
PPE European People's Party
SEA Single European Act
SMUs Small and Medium-sized
Undertakings
STABEX System of Stabilisation of Export
Earnings
Sysmin System of aid to mining products
TACIS Technical Assistance to the
Commonwealth of Independent
States and Georgia
TEU Treaty on European Union
UN United Nations Organization
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development
UNDP United Nations Development
Programme
UNHCR United Nations High
Commissariat for Refugees
VAT Value-added Tax
WEU Western European Union
WTO World Trade Organization
Foreword
Mrs Thatcher and the majority of the Conservative Party were
once enthusiasts for Europe as a single market. The recent
change in her personal views and the emergence of a mal
content group of so-called 'Eurosceptics' with which she sym
pathizes has its basis in the fact that a united Europe is about
more than a single market. Their opposition derives in part
from the fact that European Union stands as a more humane
alternative to the low wage, free-for-all which, in Britain under
Margaret Thatcher, spread insecurity as it brought down in
dustries that with a little help might have survived.
It is to be wondered what Mrs Thatcher would make of
Winston Churchill's ambition, described in a letter to Stafford
Cripps in 1948, 'to make a real brotherhood of Europe, over
riding all national, class and Party frontiers'. Three months
later, speaking as President of Honour at the Congress of
Europe held at the Hague in May 1948, Churchill declared
We shall only save ourselves from the perils which draw near
by forgetting the hatreds of the past, by letting national
rancours and revenges die, by progressively effacing fron
tiers and barriers which aggravate and congeal our divisions,
and by rejoicing together in that glorious treasure of litera
ture, of romance, of ethics, of thought and toleration be
longing to all, which is the true inheritance of Europe, the
expression of its genius and honour, but which by our quar
rels, our follies, by our fearful wars and the cruel and awful
deeds that spring from war and tyrants, we have almost cast
away.
The perceived totalitarian threats which inspired Winston
Churchill in the late 1940s may have receded. Nevertheless,
the ideals which inspired him are all the more necessary in a
Europe which has known the savagery of the Balkan civil war
and the short-sighted inanity which permitted a British gov
ernment to attempt to hide its own regulatory deficiencies and
its responsibility in the generation of the BSE crisis behind an
artificially generated 'Beef War' with their European partners.
Enrique Baron shares Churchill's vision. He makes no bones
XI
