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EUROPEAN UNION
The European Union, formerly known as the European Communities (EC), or
European Economic Community (Common Market), is a movement to unite
Western Europe. For hundreds of years, there has been an ongoing effort
to unify Europe. Prior to World War II, because of intermarriage between
Royal families, all crowned heads were closely related.
French philosopher Montesquieu said in the 18th century: "Whenever in
the past Europe has been united by force, the unity lasted no longer
than the space of a single reign." He went on to predict the peaceful
unification of Europe. In 1871, Victor Hugo, the French novelist, said:
"Let us have the United States of Europe; let us have continental
federation; let us have European freedom."
In 1922, Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi founded the Pan European
Union. He fled Austria in 1940, and came to the United States, where he
continued to work towards European unity. In 1941, Andre Malraux called
for a "European New Deal, a federal Europe excluding the USSR." In an
October, 1942 letter to the British War Cabinet, Winston Churchill
wrote: "Hard as it is to say now, I trust that the European family may
act unitedly as one under a Council of Europe. I look forward to a
United States of Europe." He said in a September 19, 1946 speech at the
University of Zurich: "We must build a kind of United States of Europe."
Churchill made the United Europe Movement a cohesive group, by merging
the Union of European Federalists, the Economic League for European
Cooperation, and the French Council for a United Europe, into an
organization known as the International Committee of Movements for
European Unity.
Late in 1947, various people and groups formed a committee to coordinate
their efforts , and by May, 1948, organized the Congress of Europe,
which convened at the Hague in the Netherlands. Nearly 1000 prominent
Europeans from 16 countries called for the establishment of a United
Europe. Dr. Joseph Retinger, who had helped organized the meeting at the
Hague, came to the United States in July, 1948, along with Winston
Churchill, Duncan Sandys, and former Belgian Prime Minister Henri- Paul
Spaak, to raise money for the movement. This led to the establishment of
the American Committee on a United Europe (ACUE) on March 29, 1949.
Their first Chairman was William Donovan, the first Director of the
Office of Strategic Services (OSS, the forerunner of the CIA); the
Vice-Chairman was Allen Dulles, who later became the Director of the
CIA; and the Secretary was George S. Franklin, who was a Director in the
Council on Foreign Relations, and later a coordinator with the
Trilateral Commission.
Lord James Edward Salisbury, the conservative British statesman, said:
"Federation is the only hope of the world." The historic address on June
5, 1947, by Gen. George C. Marshall, the Secretary of State, which made
proposals for European aid known as the Marshall Plan, also called for
the unification of Europe.
On March 17, 1948, a 50 year treaty was signed for "collaboration in
economic, social, and cultural matters and for collective self defense,"
in Brussels, by England, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and
Luxembourg. In 1950, its functions were transferred to NATO, and in May,
1955, a military alliance, known as the Council of Western European
Union was established, made up of the foreign ministers from Belgium,
France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and England,
who met every three months. There was also a Western European Union
Assembly made up of delegates to the Consultive Assembly of the Council
of Europe in Paris.
The Western European Coalition began on June 8, 1948, with the signing
of the Benelux Agreement by Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands, to
unite their economic and domestic policies.
On May 5, 1949, Foreign Ministers from ten European countries signed a
Treaty in London, for the purpose of working for "greater European
unity, to improve the conditions of life and principle human value in
Europe and to uphold the principles of parliamentary democracy, the rule
of law and human rights." The Treaty sought to promote unity, both
socially and economically, among its members: Belgium(1949),
Denmark(1949), France (1949) , Ireland(1949) , Italy(1949) ,
Luxembourg(1949) , Netherlands(1949), Norway(1949), Sweden(1949),
England(1949), Greece(1949), Turkey (1949), Iceland(1949), West
Germany(1951), Austria(1956), Cyprus(1961), Switzerland (1963),
Malta(1965), Portugal(1976), Spain(1977), and Liechtenstein(1978). The
Council of Europe was open to all European States which accepted the
"principles of the rule of law and of the enjoyment by all persons
within (their) jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms."
Their headquarters were in Strasbourg, France; their ministers met twice
a year, their deputies met ten times a year, and their 154 delegates met
at the Congresses.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the father of the Common
Market, was a defense alliance developed to implement the North Atlantic
Treaty in 1949, and to apply counter pressure against the growing Soviet
military presence in Europe. Article V states: "The Parties agree that
an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe shall be
considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that,
if such an attack occurs, each of them...will assist the Party or
Parties so attacked...to restore and maintain the security of the North
Atlantic Area." Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, West Germany,
Spain, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Iceland,
Norway, Portugal, Turkey, and the United States, all joined to oppose
the growing threat of communism. Soon afterwards, the Russians,
recognizing NATO is a stumbling block to their plans, emulated the group
by uniting their communist satellites in 1955 with the Warsaw Treaty
Organization. The Warsaw Pact alliance included the countries of
Albania, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and
Russia.
On May 27, 1952, the European Defense Community Treaty was signed in
Paris, and provided for the armies of West Germany, France, Italy,
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, to become closely aligned with
England's. On October 23, 1954, it was replaced with the Western
European Union, who merged their armies into a multi-national armed
force.
French economist and diplomat Jean Monnet, called the "Father of
Europe", said: "As long as Europe remains divided, it is no match for
the Soviet Union. Europe must unite." He established a pressure group in
1955 called the Action Committee for the United States of Europe. He
also said: "Once a Common Market interest has been created, then
political union will come naturally."
On March 25, 1957, the European Economic Community (EEC), also called
the European Common Market, was established with a 378-page Declaration
of Intent, called the Treaty of Rome, to facilitate the removal of
barriers, so trade could be accomplished among member nations; eventual
coordination of transportation systems, agricultural and economic
policies; the removal of all measures restricting free competition; and
the assurance of the mobility of labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.
The Common Market began with six countries: France, West Germany, Italy,
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. George McGhee, the former U.S.
ambassador to West Germany, said that "the Treaty of Rome which brought
the Common Market into being was nurtured at the Bilderberg meetings."
In 1973, Henry Kissinger, Nixon's Secretary of State(who favors a 'New
International Order' of one-world government) urged the Common Market to
include four more nations: Norway, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Ireland.
Norway eventually backed out, but on May 28, 1979, in Athens, Greece
became the tenth nation to join the Common Market. When they officially
became a member in January, 1981, Europe as as unified as it was in 814,
when Charlemagne, founder of the Roman Empire, died.
A French foreign minister said: "The Europe of the future, when it
finally unites politically as well as economically, will be the
mightiest force on earth." Walter Hallstein said: "Make no mistake about
it, we are not in business, we are in politics. We are building the
United States of Europe." Time magazine wrote: "If the Europe of
tomorrow could muster the political will, it could become a co-equal of
the other two superpowers, the United States and Russia..." Another
publication said: "The European Common Market is emerging to shake the
world economically and politically." England's former Prime Minister,
Edward Heath, said: "Europe must unite or perish."
The December 3, 1975 issue of the Review of the News said: "A new move
towards a One World Government was recently initiated by Holland. The
motion, introduced by a Socialist deputy in the Netherlands Assembly,
was passed on to the Common Market Commission in Brussels where it
received approval. The Dutch motion called for European elections in
which 355 members would be elected to a Federal European Parliament,
which, if all goes as planned, will unite Western Europe under a single
Socialist Government...the term of office would be five years and a
Socialist-Communist majority would be inevitable." The first such
election was held June 7-9, 1979, which elected a 410 member European
Parliament, the first in over 1,000 years. Great Britain, France, West
Germany, and Italy had 81 seats; the Netherlands, 25 seats; Belgium, 24
seats; Denmark, 16 seats; Ireland, 15 seats; and Luxembourg, 6 seats.
The Palace of Europe was built in Strasbourg, France, to provide a
facility for its Parliament, which met monthly, ten months out of the
year.
On March 17, 1979, the Common Market initiated a new monetary system to
encourage trade and investment by stabilizing their currency values in
relation t0o each other. The main feature of this link-up was a $33
billion fund made up of each other's gold and currency reserves. Members
could borrow against this fund to support their own currencies. The
value of each participating currency were set against "European Currency
Units" established by the fund.
On January 1, 1986, Spain and Portugal became the 11th and 12th members
of the European Community. On November 11, 1991, Jeane Kirkpatrick,
former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, wrote: "If the Bush Administration has
a vision of the New World Order, it is time to share it with the
Europeans and Americans, because a New World Order is precisely what is
emerging on the continent of Europe today." On December 9-11, 1991, at a
meeting in Maastricht, in the Netherlands, a serious effort was made to
establish a common currency, and discussions were held concerning a
common foreign policy, and a common defense policy. On December 31,
1992, the "Single Europe Act" went into effect, uniting the 12 nations
into a federation and lifting the restrictions on the movement of goods,
services, capital, workers and tourists within the Community. They also
adopted common agricultural, fisheries, and nuclear research policies.
Jacques Delors, in the 'Delors Report', a blueprint for EC unification,
called for a "transfer of decision-making power from member states to
the community."
On January 1, 1995, Austria became the 13th nation, and three other
nations are set to join the Union, pending the outcome of referendum
votes in their respective countries: Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The
industrial capability of the European Union, is nearly equal to that of
the United States. Western Europe also accounts for about 25% of the
world's production, and 35% of its trade. When the time comes, and it
surely will, that the people of the European Union finally allow
themselves to become a single political entity, they will be a world
power, and a force to be reckoned with.
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