*Looking further ahead, I believe that Europe is going to emerge as one of the largest and richest communities in the world with the potential of the present powers and it is unthinkable that this new Europe should lack adequate means of self-defence.
'Moreover, this new will be a global power whether she likes it or not. Trade will be her life blood as it has been Britain's for centuries. Her interests will not stop at the Tropic of Cancer. Increasingly West Europeans have to look outward and play their part in maintaining peace and stability in the world.
That was how one of the most far sighted representatives of the British ruling ington, summed up the real nature purpose of the Common Market.
The EEC is not, as is commonly supposed, simply an agreement on free trade in goods the name is used in English. If it were merely that it would have little impact in British politics and be of little interest to socialists. No one bothered their head about the old European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to which Britain used to belong and which still exists if anyone cares.
The EEC was intended by the European capitalist powers to be, and still is, something very much more. It is an attempt to marshall the powers Europe petitive struggle with tional doubt Lord Carrnational capitalism. that — a 'Market' as The needs of European capitalism tion. requires resources and huge markets.
Increasingly Labour leaders are becoming converted from chauvinism to fake 'internationalism' Socialist Action 29 July 1983 of the capitalist states to engage in a comthe United States, to develop a military capacity to defend European capitalist interests against the colonial revoluthe Soviet Union, and to strengthen the position of every naEuropean state against its own working class. Whether European capitalism can succeed in this goal is of course open to great - almost certainly it cannot and the EEC will weaken under the deepening contradictions of interBut that does socialists do not have to have a clear attitude to this process of European capitalist coordination. That attitude should be very clear - total opposition. areas The necessity for the European capitalist powers to attempt to build up a centralisation and coordination of their forces is obvious. Modern capitalist produc- with huge productive final No NO SMONING individual capitalist state can even remotely compete with the productive power of the United States.
Furthermore since mid-1970s the US has mounted a huge economic counter-offensive against Western Europe with the result that today United States capitalism is once more core rapidly than is BE rivals.
' rivals.
Without the protection of the EEC each of the West European capitalist states would economically crushed.
Furthermore military power is still the final arbiter of the interests of capitalist states. United States imposes its solutions of the capitatist world the capitalist because it has the military power to do so. As long as European capitalism has no military power it must accept United States dictats on all fundamental questions and remains weakened when confronted with challenges to its interests.
While the EEC commences economic integration goal 1s precisely to building a unified foreign policy of the European capitalist states and the strengthening military power There should also be no illuthe sions as culmination of such Military power in the world means above weapons. Each European capitalist states is today developing its nuclear armaments or the means to create them. The build up of atomic weapons by the Mitterrand France is the most rapid ever embarked upon by a European state. During the recent negotiations on The cruise and Pershing missiles the Mitterrand the French nuclear West Germany future alternative, ment, to that of the United States. As for Britain, the only differences within the ruling over atomic weapons and military strategy is what type of arms build up it wants. of the British ruling class most closely tied to the United States -its the Thatcher leadership of the aid strike' Trident missile system.
NO!
of their ruling to what would be the policy. weapons modern all nuclear of the major government in go far government offered 'shield' to as possible comple- of the Europe':
Those sections The want the 'first capitalist teeth.
existence, to build up military each Policy mon to do with peasants' Those sections of the British more oriented to European capitalism - such as the SDP and the Liberals - want more emphasis on conventional more 'deterrent' nuclear ones. But this is only a difference on how to build up military and nuclear strength and not on whether to.
While nuclear co-operation of the West European powers is the most difficult to achieve, ad vances on the field of conventional weapons have been able to further. The incredible sums of money spent on the Concorde airliner were not in order to fly people across the Atlantic at high speed. They were intended to develop the high technology skills French and British war plane manufacturers. The Jaguar fighter bomber is just one of the products of this strengthening o military aircraft manufacturing capacity.
Europe for which the EEC is intended as an instrument of the tw super-powers but of European states armed to the Whether or not the Eurc pean capitalists states can ever br ing that co-ordination fully into nevertheless socialists have to fight against every move European capitalist power. Even without a 'European state' each step in economic and integration aids the political and military capacity of europear capitalist power.
The Common Agricultural The second key mechanism need ed to build up a really powerfu European capitalism is the Com Agricultural Policy. The stories of the 'butter mountains and 'wine lakes' are not the jokes they are made out to be in the press. Nor do they have anything 'subsidising Frenc as the chauvinist arguments against the EEC state The EEC is in fact engaged in
working class of Europe was paying more for its food. in order to help drive small farmers off the The change of position of