Sutherland, Peter D.

Archive of European Integration

4*2'Surna ry of rena rk sI\;-----\qi 't., ) 'rtib), Petcr D. Suthortandtlenbcr of the Comni ssi on of the Euro can Comnunitiesto the Lau Facu Ity Comnencement ilie gt_! r'g-%-.St Loui s UniversityEUNOPEAN A!IERICAI{ RELAT I OITS:TONGING A RENEUAL OF PI.R T}: EN S II I PFrido t0 Fla v1Some of you wi l,L recat L that in the earty sixties r.rhen John Flienncdl'uts Fresident and HaroId t'lac HiLLarr Has prinrc fiinisterof Britain, llr ilac t'liItan had a favourite anatogy for the"speciaIrr rctationstrip be.trcen bottr countrics. ue used to saytlrat the BritiEh shoul,d be to you as the 6reoks hacl beento tlrc Ronans.I herrer unrlct'stood ulry this comparison spnrared to gir,,e suchco:,:fort to tlre Prin:e ilinister, If you thirrk about it,tlrn experiorrce of tho Grecks xhen tlre sun bo(,orr to riseon thc er;pi re of Rone Has not aLtogether e.nvi able. But theattitude c:l rr,ind rihich irrtrodrJcc.s such an analogyt and nayfind reasgur"ance irr itris, r think, fascir,ating. It is atsoquite p;'evatent today,, irhd not onty in Britain,EuropeEns are at tires pmre to pessinrism and its gtoorny sat.isfactionsbut perhas Ioss so toclay thrn is sometlmes portroyed here.It is nore than three. decades nou since the AngIo-Irish rrritenCyri L ConnotLy tnnounced that it uas trctosing time in the gar:deniin the llestrr, Henceforth, he -salc, ve shouto took ifor nc '. :consoIations beyond the qual.ity of our soIi tudc ond theoIesonance of our despa{rt'. Tho moocl that Connol.ty so eIegantIyexDressed is by no means univorsaLty entertainecl noy.I'lluropesslrrismtt iS a recognised aitment, oftel l,inked to thcstit't more debi Iitating condition of nEuroscterosist uhich has.becornl f rshi6nabLe in recent nonths however many of us be Iieve'tIat not aIone havc He made a dlagnosis but ]re knor.the curc.2There i s undoubtedl,y a protrtcm of conf idence.. He have to ridourscIvc's of trrc notiorr that bccause Europo is otd it nustbe tirad. ttre hove to conquer thc fear thtrt tho prodigiousseLf-renewing crefltivity of Europe sustaincd throughcenturies of trrnr anC division may nol, be erhausted just atthcl r,;o,,,0'',, wl:en ue have r'endenecl n",. betncen us unthinkabto,and h,'r,c nodo se-ious progresg in rli srrant ting our age o(dd'i viiions,To stete the prchl,er': irt th,tt lray is I suggest, to sec thot itis mi'rr'i lrc'stty a fatse probten. Raretl,can tire f.rr,tcus *ords ofPrcg'i<icrrt nocsevoIt ltave bcen rnore true of a particul,or situationthirn tlic;'rrne of Eur'cpc noH: ,'The onr,y thi,g Nc rrove to fcaris feat.'itsetf',.'lhc introsr)ectiens, doubts. and'anxiety which have been the subjectrecent' comrnent are onLy a trtnsient phononlenon. Att nationsand aI t F,copte axperience it f rorn time to time, tt is hard toreca I L thi s no]r, but I routd Euggest that Aneri cans too ./sttfferr:d I serious erosion of confidence during and after you| ,"irrvgtt'err:ent in vietnim. And that urs trt a moment:09or histo'rical.tyspeaking, '- 'But, you ilty sayr lreoft rauma to shakebut h,e have hadEu ropeonsne rves andourhave had no Vi ctnemsr ho suchmake us doubt our future. True,dif f i cul.tics rnd setbacks, r,rainIy of !n5ecot'tci:lic nature, ovor sincc the fir.st expLos.ion in oit pricesin 1?7'5, which havc brought their okn kind of trauna. The nostpainfuL esr)cct o{ cur probtems ls the quite unacceptabtc Ievotof rJrien;)toynient rrhich has spared trone of oLrr ccuntrics, andulrich {inds its f'rincipaI victirns anotlg young Freoptc.0ur t'rrr:('11t exptrrier:ce ls thcrefore so differ.cnt fronr yours thattle cc'r cnl1, ttroi: ritlr admir!tiOn and enVy at tho fitc.lnhoi. inxlricrl )or lt;l\'.' soarod out of recession ond aclrievcd a ptrticuIarIysttr:,rri ng rrcorc ir, creating neH jobs. tr,e ItaVc to respect youtaci.i(:..(..-cnt rrlriLc tryirro to enruIetc it. tic n,...J.d to tr.arn{ro;r t$i.r anc cc,npete tvith you at ilrs. s0me tirre. I thinh otsotlr;'t' tl.c.a 'is a great CcaL tlrat ),ou can Iearn from us.If tl,i:: i,rrrrui'rts tD i, rather arnbivaLerrt set af Etrropean attitudesto the Ulitc'd states it is, r bptieve, no tjroFG than e nirrorir,ragc r,i the stt'i tudes uhich you hotd to'"-ards us in thatrich ;tnd corrpLer rctotionship trhich binds (rs ,into I conclitionof alr,:cst faritiaI tension and rivstry.Ari:erican ambivaterice tor.rarcs Europe i=: r supposer: as oLd :as tl:e Pi tgnirn Fr'!t'hers, ond it has becn ptentif uIty nouristredby every t.,ave sf Euror)ean migrants ulho fol. l.oued ther,r. so snthe cnc'hond there are tcns gf mittions ol Anericans who fceIctose,0n thebehindnatur'aI attaclrment to thc'roId country" of th?ir forbeors.crther hand Europe remains the Irnd xhi ch uas Ieftin the searCh for g better Iife, uhettrer matericL orpotiticot, and not ail"con$iciorabte extent tlrearJs),,fronr thc fai tirrgs4the Il!0morius are DIoasant. To 0US was founded on the basis ofof European soc i et),.gettingTlte undertl"ln(1 aibivaLcnce buiIt into Amer,i ca.s ettrnjc patternuasr'of cotl se. rain'f orce<i l.t)' the 'evcnts of this centur.y i-henEttrgpc'an cL\rlfticts gonrrated tt.lo norLd hrars in xhich the USt/iri reIuc.t.'rrtt;,for.cccJ to intcrvene. It js no exag0eration tosiry that ci- the secor:c occDsionat Least ),ou savecl our rjemccratjcs),5tr.n flc..r.;,,tinction arrd then gave uSr through the llirrshal,IPl,rr,r t|,i':'!)tlri;l riear..s to rcbuitCl .it. Flut lrere a(iairt therc(:ur-i n0 11.'r-;; of Loss artd gain in oun retationshipasserl$ itrriJ. IQt'efter' 19,i5r the batcn cf yortd Ic.adurshippi,is,t (r f rc, t th.. l.i}r.;r,li of tl:e Eur(rFl.an pct.,i,rs to those qrf the US.Tl:'i S tr.-.n,:,'i tl:a:.iorl i,,;s in turrl instruncfrtirL in reviving thgidcal. of Ir,rc;p'i(r^ u.ity uh.ich had been expressed so often(but i;ith so l,itrl.e practicat effort) ovor the p,:aviousfour rentur.ic.s.5The Europerns racognized, flrst, that iomQthing nust be conc toensurc th6t l,tr rouLd never again break out in Europe rnd,tecond, that the individuat European nation stctG r{rs no Iongercapabte of responding to the sociaL, potiticat and economjccha I Lengcs of the pcst-urr vorId. Thanks to the unprecedentedgesture of t{ar3hatL Ald, a numbcr of ststes Here enabtecl torebui td thei r shBttered ecgnomies tnd to tc.kc thq f irst importantsttps toxards European integration.0f the severat experinentt vhich deveIopcd out of thls ne], founddesire for unity, it is the European con:munity rhich has provedthe nost significant and the nrost en<Juring, predicatecj (rn theidea of creating a de fecto integration thrcugh the meshing ofour economies and thg cstabIishment of supri]-nationatinstitutions, the Ec has gror*n'ln size and stature, expirnced itsactivit'ies and assumed a significant rote in r+or,LrJ affairs. TroeramPtes; the present Conmuni ty of ten lrtenber States i s thaIargest trrding btoc in the uortd and atso the Iargest donor ofdevetopnrent assist.nc? tg the Third trlorLd. Recent egree,'rent onthc entargement of the community to incl,ude spain and portugeIand discussions on thc possibte concLusion of a ney Treaty onEuropean union vhi ch xouLd consoIidatc the achievenents andexpand the scope of the Cor,rmunity - rre cvidence that He arccommlttcd to the achievement of integration in the fuLLest senseof the yord.h'hiLe the US view of this proceEs has basicatLy been posit{vr,end often supportivc; lt ls not surpri sing that the retationshipher had its trnsions. First of rL[, frQm l psychotbgicaI pointof vlex, I think many Americans find lt -OifficuLt tl understinjthe comnunity because, rtthough lt ls c Iear that in many are.s(mort nottbl.y trede) l'lember Strtes can no Longer actindividueLty, it is rIso cteer that HG rre a Iong Hry frcra theidert of a ItUnited Strtes ol Europetf. Secondty, ai Europerecovered economicaLIy and begrn to seek a netJ pol,iticaLidentity, r certain rivaLry cntcred our retation$. Ue began to6compete for internat iona I marketg and ue bcgondjsagreL' on natters of internttion;:I retatiunsEtlst or Gast-tlest Probtems.occtt'ionaI Ly totuch as tlre ltliddIoand rr'onetary poLicy, thera isdef icits, high interest ratcsrthesubsidiaation arrd trbouF ttriirketThesc are thc ctements I voutd identify rherr I took at the stateof the rctationshiP todaY:Fi rst Iy,, the basic conmltment of both sidcs trr the fundamentaLsof hJestcrn denocrati c civi Liration remains unghaken. !J€ sherethe sEr,e vaLues and recogntzc thc need to protoct those vaLues ina difficul,t internationat cl,iinate. But ue ere aLso competitors.In the area of tratle, for exarnpIe,, tre crit'icise each otherrspoLicies on agricutturt and steeL. In some qualters t,here aregrou{ng eaIts for protectionist measures against what are secnos "unfairtr practices in other areas, and tlrere is resentmerrt atthe differing approaches irr regard to a ne!, ro'.,,it1d of rntrLtiLaterattrsde taLks,In the area of macro-cgononticnutuaI critic'i sm on excessiveover-r,ii glrty do[ [ar, excess'iverigldities.tn foreign poLicy, there trc ir.rportant dtffertnces On CentraLAmeri ca, the frliddLe East, the right aPproach t0 the probLers ofthe Thi rd t{ortd and thc rrhoLe question of security and East-h'estrcLations which are, of courst, of \,ery immediate rnd reaIconcern to etL Europeans yho Iive in the shrdow of the Sovlct rndErstcrn Europaan btoc,I think, thcrcfore, that Ie are Iiving through a period of sometension in thc US-EC retationship. lJ? shoul.d not exaggerate thisbut nor shoutd be ignore it. lJhat |re need Js a ncH vision of thenature ol our rcIatlon3 so that these differancet can be saen inperspactive. l,c need a fi rm reinstatement of the fundamentaLsrhich unite u8r e reaffi rmatlon of our common 9oaIs.Let tne tr)'t(r sketch $orlre tines for a neH perspective.In the matten of tradc, He ought to recogn'ise the inevitabiLity,in these difficrrLt eco,ronis tinres, that pressuro groups on bothsides o{ the nttanti c tii l.L begin to question the henef its of thctjberaL one-worId trirdlng systen r.rhich has heen eo painstekingLybuitt, targeIy, be it rroted, by thc US and Europe. The fightag;r'inst protectionjsrn is something rrhich is essentiat to thegonerotion of uorLd econonic grorth znd Europe, which is eyennore depen'Jertt on toreign trade ttran the US and which continuesto he the targest exFrort narket for US aglricuIturat and,narluf;rcturc'd products, is more than wiil.in0 to engage in taIkstorards this end.TaIks in ther,rsotves are not houever suflicient. There nust rLsobe a niItirrgnoss to reach conctusions srrd this needs preFaratjon.Tlre Cevetoping countrjes tro extrereLy scepticaL about the vaLueof thcse proposeC negotiatjons and bJe F,Ur;t toke the timenecessery to convince thenr othtrxise,7Trade is but one €len'ent in the conrptex cquatirhi ch face the uorId economy at present. Lte sthat the tyin pilLars of econornis growtir in thb,ere the GATT and Bretton lrloods. The GAIT priattack, uhi Ie Brettorr l.Jooos has cot IBpsed entineH structures this issue rnust aLso ha addreen...'of probtemshr6uLd not forgetq 1950s and 1960srrcipIcs arc undereIy. So He needsed.There J s a need for coordinated actionpi Ltars of the industriaLlzed rorId.markets nore to imported m!nufacturedinternctionat rotc of the yeni thc USbudget probtem and tlre edverse impactbetwecn the three nainJepan yi LL hrve to open ttsg*ds 8rrui l, I hro'f a strf aci Iitate th_ee to tackte theng dottrr on USI0tradc perforritancei and Europe viLL have to create mort dynanicconditions folstronger grouth in its intcrnal rr,arket.-8-I knov that there is a b<;dy of opinlon in.thedisiLl,usioned with Europerrrhich betioves thatprobLenrs (especiall,y thc !corronic onegl) are oten ycars (rr,rt Ieast becauser 0c an open tradirdependhnt on imported raH materiaIs t bte uere rncthe o'it shocks ttran the us) ther.e is a neu spirstr0jtts. Fot' exampLer .in tIe SteeI Sector,betucc'n 300-40C 000 jotrs comrrarcd with aroundHoxever, ue have coDc tl:rough this periocl oi1lllrIS todoy uhich icost of ourour orn making,g bLoc, heoviIyre severety hi t byit abroad whichrope has tost0 000 in the ttS.justment cnd are,and rhi ch voutd I i ks to $ee a shi f t lrr the f ocus of Us interestauay fron th9 Atlontic touards the pacific.I thirrk that these vicr,s .r€ misguidod.Atthough Europe has exnerienceci considerabIe probtenrs in t5e Iastrecognises our dif{icicrrcits and rhfch is determincd to changethe situation. ln fact, Europe has marle a najoir effort torestructure in the Irst f ex yeats. Thcre tras lbeen rl signif lcanttoss of jobs in nrany inclustr.i es - textil,es, stdel., shipbuiIdingas a resuLt and this has generatcd najor sociaI ancl economicErJ4Iad,nor, poised for En economic tift-off. trle know our weaknesscs.But, tle aisc llnox cur gtrerrgths.I vouLd point out the fact thst the neu Europernrtready made a positive beginning. hre have beengettlng sgre?r,rspt on the many technica[/bucJgetaryhave eeized up the corrmu.lty desision-mEking proceyeErs' h,e lrave nranagecl to piIot thrgugh an ogreemenIargement to inctude spain rnd portugaL and therpotenti aL interna L mrrket of 320 mi t Iion peopIc.comriittad ourseIves to a deterrnined assauIt on thefree trade in our {nternat markit. rn thb fietd o]t.ll,c have taken polnf uL desi rions to inpose a touglr pdiscipl.inr ond this,riust sureIy be recognized as acontrlbution to better equtibriun on yorlcl narkets.qdommigsiorr hesctive inlssues rhichs in rsccntnt gnby create aUc haveobstac Los to iagricuttur.c,riceso t i d9lJhen Europe does coopcrete i-e ctn bc vtry successf ut. Let mecitr thrcs erarnplcsi in th! f icLd gf !eronfiutics, AjrbusIndustry represents a significant forsc uhich is provirJingserious competition to the dominant positicn of Boeirrg. In thGfieId of space, the European Sftace A0ency iind the Ariane rocketoffer a con'imcrci,rLty viabte aIternatjve to the sbace shuttIe.the fieLd of rruslear energy research, Europe'is bxtrerneLy nel.l.advrnged.InIn.at'[ of the-qe successcsiEuropean iooperatiorr ip the essentiaLcommon eLenrent. I beLieve that the need fcr. Eurbpe to puslrforriard in the area of integnotion is no$ uidc,Iy recognizedTesptciaLty by industry. Hohrever, atthougli ue may fioVr.r towards tgoaI which may IooseIy be described os a,'Urriteci State$ ofEurope'r atrd rhil.e te n.ay adopt many aspects cf the Aneri conmoda[, it must aLso be recogrrized thnt whot L,c buritd xil, l. remaindistinctLy European. I say tlris because sorirc recEurope in senior US Govcrnment cj rctcs seeri:s tois the very nature of Eurc[rcan society rhiclr isour problems. The idea -qeems to be tlrat onty ient crit'i cism ofve beenuggest thot ltt the heort ofEu rope abandonsthe US ccnits b.rsic trsditions rnc becomesthere be any hope for progress.a carbon copy cI th{nl( it is unreaLlstic to suggest that thc US is the ontymodtt or rccipe for cconomic success and thot automatic imltationof this ir the onty possibte roicJ for Europe. t{e knou uhat ueneed to Co but it has to be consistent with our oxn identity andt rrdi t i ons rnd t he need to preserve those aspestttrusture rhi ch re beHeve are essentlrI to ourbctieve firnIy that the Europcan modet of economyhich re !rG cornmitted ri[[ pl;oduce few.sunprisedecade rhish ritt lhoy the ItEuropessimists" to hsor{ousIy nistaken,0n the Europlan side, there has been, I think, tnisptaced viers of thc US-EC retationship irr Eurbern thE onG viey rhich has Eought to mininize t0nd to itek r degrcc of privil,eged reIatiorrshipg of our sociatrray of Life. Ii c deve Lopmcnt. tos i'n the nexifledh iopepolarised and, There hasdifferencesch ignorcd thet0fact thrrt the slzc of the tuo partners uas so unequaL that rbaLanced retationship h,as impossi[rIe. Tlrere has been on theother extneme, a vicr xhich tended to cJounpIay thc simi turltiesand seek uhat o Iten seemed ti ke a f ake ond r.tuL:horn indppend?ncr.I bctieve that, uithin a united Europe, it is possibLe to s?tasidc such cxtrernerrperEeptions anrl to settle on e reetisticaPpraisaL of our relattorrs nhich tokes f ul, t account of au. thevatues tie share, recognizes and toIerate-r tlie differEnces andthus errabLeg uc tlicve tor.rards the netl reLatir,nship ln rrortdaffai'rs uhich Prosident KenneCy caLlc.d for in a historic speechin Phi LarJutphia in 1964 rhen he proposed an e(1uBt partnershipbetueen'rthe nohr union noH en,erg{ng in Europe ond tlre otdAmerican union founded hare 115 yei...s 8go.* ,'L,e do not regerdr,,he saidr "a strong and united EuroF,e os a rivaL but i,s apartner.'lThis is hou it shcut.d be, There vit[,tcnsions because Europe yi Ll. speak uithunited vo'i ce. Dut the basic convergencebe tost from sight.of courge, be occgs{onaLI St rCnger and noreof inter!gt shouLd neverSpeaking as an Irishnran I am ternptecl to say that CardinaI Nermanmay have raised our hopes unduty some one hundred and twentyycars ago rhen he foresaw IreIrnd bacomirrg. about no'r, t oroad ofpasssge betreen txo hemisphercs rnd the centre of the Hortdrt.But vhr.r uouLd say that the instlnct underl,ying that Ecrbitiourstaterent, the instinct whieh toId lieuman that the t]ro sides ofthe Attantic rere dostined to share a strong, harnoniousrctationship uas not. sound and reaListic?It ras a great son of St Loui s.7 the poef and c ri t i c' T. S. E L iot rhodid perhaps more than anyone ln moder.n times to ernbody, in hisrork rnd Lifc and rlith his olln particuIar individual.ity, thetEtGntiat underLying cornmcn basis of Amcri can and Europeanvatues. He yas, porhepsr a Roman ulro came back to teach thsGrqcks nerl urys of seeing and judging. He expressed a truthabout our retations that transcends the more technieaI aspects ofa11European-lrmQrican retations that seem atexagEerated tensions. The centraI pointHe both share a passionate Domnitraent totilres to c.use suchto kecp in mlnd is thatfreedom and demcc rtcy.t

European American Relations: Forging a Renewal of Partnership. Summary of remarks by Peter D. Sutherland, Member of the Commission of the European Communities to the Law Faculty Commencement Meeting. St. Louis, 10 May 1985

European American Relations: Forging a Renewal of Partnership. Summary of remarks by Peter D. Sutherland, Member of the Commission of the European Communities to the Law Faculty Commencement Meeting. St. Louis, 10 May 1985

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