LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Hon. THOMAS E. MORGAN, Chairman, Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: We are submitting for consideration by the Committee on International Relations a report on the meetings held in Washington on October 29-31, 1975, by members of the committee, and other Members of the House with an official delegation of the European Parliament. We hope that the report will be useful to the committee in its consideration of legislation relating to U.S. relations with Europe. CONTENTS Page Congressional program for European Parliamentarians. Paper and summaries from working sessions: Paper by Mr. Kirk (VII) PREFACE The program for this eighth meeting of Members of Congress and of the European Parliament reflects the econocentric direction the world has taken since the oil embargo in late 1973. The title of this printed version of our program, "The Ascendancy of Economic Goals in the World Order" could, with good reason, have been expressed even more strongly as the "continued" ascendancy of such goals because the embargo continued into a period of sharply rising oil prices, balance-of-payment problems, recession in the Western World and further economic distress and despair in the Third and, especially, the Fourth Worlds. Thus, for the 4 years that the Congress and the European Parliament have sent delegations to these meetings, the parliamentarians have been engrossed in economic questions for more than half of that time. One of the program's discussions, that concerning institutional developments within the European Community, implies that this concentration on economic goals may not continue much longer. For while in institutional terms, the ascendancy of economic issues has marked the Community's existence almost from the signing of the Treaty of Rome nearly 20 years ago, we now see signs that the next 20 years of the Community may witness a corresponding development of political institutions and aspects. The scheduled start of direct elections to the European Parliament in 1978, for example, almost certainly means the development of genuine pan-European political parties and stronger European political leadership. Because the concept of European Union has always contained a promise of political content beyond the admittedly important economic development of the European Community in its present form, we have decided to include as an appendix to this report the document prepared by Leo Tindemans, the Belgian Prime Minister, on European Union. This marks, to our knowledge, the first American publication of the Tindemans' report. This report was requested by the chiefs of government of the Community countries in their 1974 summit meeting as a guide to future growth of the Community. The Tindemans' report has received much attention in Europe since its publication 3 weeks ago. It has attracted little attention so far in the United States. We commend it, therefore, especially to our American readers and particularly to our colleagues in Congress and the executive branch. It is an excellent discussion of the role of Europe in the world and in its relations with the United States. And in its careful but far-reaching discussion of what European Union means in the fields of foreign and defense policies, the Tindemans' report may well mark the start of a second generation of growth for a united Europe. |