BRITAIN AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY: the Heath-Pompidou Summit

In the 20th century the European continent was shaken by two world wars. Fearing a communist
invasion from the west and also wanting to avoid another “civil war” between the nations of
Europe (Larousse 499) there was born the initiative of a union. The French Foreign Minister
Robert Schuman comes with the idea of the Franco-German steel and coal community. He
thought that working together would avoid the rivalry between the states, which in most cases
leads to war. But “the true purpose of the Community is security as well as prosperity”. (O'Neil
XXII) They wanted to remove the boundaries and to share goods, services, workers, as well as
capital, in order to work together in a productive way. Britain, like its neighbors, was facing
difficult times in the after war period: workers in many key industries began to strike, demanding
better working conditions and higher wages and the society was divided between those who
favored the solutions of the Labor Party and those who favored the Conservatives. But the
country wanted to be a super power and to exercise influence in world, like it did in the past, and
this goal could be achieved only by entering the European Community. After two failed attempts
to gain the membership, led by the Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Harold Wilson, “all
our policies at home and abroad were in ruins.” (Jinks) The third application was crucial for the
welfare of the country. But during the negotiation arose some disagreements between Britain and
France. Therefore emerged the necessity of a summit, which took place in the capital of France,
on May 1971. It was an important historical event, the most significant during the negotiations,
when the fate of UK, as well as the rest of Europe, was decided.

After Charles de Gaulle resigned from the presidency of France, in 1969, things were about to
change. The main opponent of Britain’s entrance into the EEC was out of the political scene. His
decision to reject the first and the second application may be explained by the fear of France not
to lose its leading statute in the European Union, the rivalry between these two countries having
strong roots from the previous centuries. Also the French president saw Britain as a “’trojan
horse’, for US influence in Europe.” (Young 265) In his view Britain was the bridge between
USA and Europe. A year later Britain applies for the third time. Edward Heath was confident
that this time they will succeed. For him, “European Community (EC) membership was ’the
jewel of the Crown’ of the 1970 government”, “even de Gaulle predicted, privately, that Britain
would eventually enter the Community under Heath’s leadership, for it was now obvious that
entry was the latter’s life ambition”. (Young 261) UK could not afford a third rejection and did
its best to reach this goal, because EC membership was very important for the British matters.
There was a huge pressure on Heath’s shoulders, because not being part of an increasingly
powerful association would have affected the main sectors of the country, including the trade and
the security. “They (The Six) may become a bloc comparable in influence with the United States
and the URSS, and if that happens we remain outside, our relative position in the world is bound
to decline”. (Lecture slides) There were more chances to receive a positive answer this time than
in the previous two attempts, but they could not take this as granted.
The historian John W. Young points out the willingness coming from the French side for Britain
to be an EC member. He says that this attitude its justified by the desire to balance German
power. Right after the World Wars Germany was facing difficult times: a large percentage of
men capable of work were dead, the food was rationed and the infrastructure was highly
affected. But, surprisingly, few years after, Germany regained its position as a super power. Its
neighbors, especially France, were becoming to fear its influence: the nation of Hitler, crushed
by the world wars, was now the industrial engine of Europe. Its success gave Germany a strong
position: “the franc had been left under severe pressure partly because the Germans refused to
revaluate the Deutschmark.” (Young 265) The historian says that, beside the economic
competition, the French president Pompidou was suspecting intentions of Germany to ally with
the Eastern Bloc. Therefore “the British would be a valuable ally against greater supra-
nationalism from Brussels.” (Young 266)

The negotiations between England and ‘the six’ founding members were discussed in Brussels,
but this was a slowly process, because of “the need of the Six to agree on a common position”.
(Young 268) John Young indicates that the 5 founding members were supporting Britain’s
application, but the French had a more independent attitude. There were contradictions regarding
the Commonwealth trade and also about the gradual transition of Britain’s contributions to the
community. The historian reveals that “Pompidou, evidently considered that he could push the
British hard.” (Young 270) But the British responded to this harsh attitude saying publicly that
they “might reject entry if the terms were not right.” (Young 270)

Considering this events, the necessity of a summit was obvious. The initiative of a summit
between the British Prime Minister and the French president, in which the main aspects of the
membership to be discussed was coming from president Pompidou. (Margaret Tatcher
Foundation ) “To reach an acceptable settlement required complicated and arduous discussion.”
(Young 268) Being the third application, UK “could not renegotiate the Treaty of Rome or
expect the six original members of the Community to alter their existing policies…” (Young
264) There were already 13 years since the Community was founded and it was obvious that they
developed a set of rules. Therefore UK had to pay a price to become part of this already settled
community. If we are to look at the relations between France and Britain over time, we can
remark that this two countries had a tumultuous history. There were many conflicts between
them, fueled by a tremendous rivalry. Surprisingly their attitude changed in some aspects. “There
was a certain amount of polite fencing…” (O'Neil 334) Both Edward Heath and Georges
Pompidou were having a positive attitude towards the summit. They acknowledged that this
meeting was an important event for both countries and that the expansion of the EC would lead
to some economical and political benefits.

One of the things to be discussed was about the security of the community and the bound
between the British and the Americans. USA, which was a British colony, has become a super
power, alongside with Russia. Though England has strong connection on the other side of the
Atlantic, Pompidou was concerned about their response to the European Union. A powerful
bound between the European countries ”was beginning to irritate them as they sensed a potential
threat to some of their interests.” (Summit, part 1, pg 8) Europe received money support from the
other side of the Atlantic, but it was time to stay on their feet. The French president wanted
Europe to exert influence in the world, and this goal was possible only through the unification.
Though England was developing a nuclear force in collaboration with US, France adopted an
independent position and wanted to do this on its own, in order to “dispose freely of her nuclear
force, however it may be.” (Summit, part 1, pg 7) But diplomacy was required, because Europe
still needed USA to be its main ally. In case of an attack coming from the Soviet Union, the only
way for Europe to hold back the invasion would be the American nuclear weapons. “Europe
should not be directed against anyone” (Summit, part 1, pg 6), but instead should focus in
becoming a power that would be able to defeat itself.

Other main points from the discussion were about the site of the political secretariat, which
Pompidou wanted to be in Paris, and about French being the official language of the
commission. Sir Con O’Neill believed that this was the reason for Britain’s exclusion from the
Community. The French were again adopting a superior and leading attitude, trying to preserve
their leading statute. But on the other side many English nationalists, with strong traditional
attitudes, were firmly rejecting this idea. One of them is James Callaghan, who said very
sarcastic: “If we have to prove our Europeanism by accepting that French is the dominant
language in the Community, then my answer is quite clear, and I will say it in French in order to
prevent any misunderstanding: ‘Non, merci beaucoup.’” (Wall 415)

During the summit was also discussed the currency issue. Both agreed that the American dollar
had a very strong position and it is very possible that the Deutschmark crisis was due to this. The
French President pointed out the American strong attitude toward this issue: “the dollar must
remain untouchable and everyone else must simply adapt to it.” He also said that “it is not in the
interests of Europe to attack the dollar. A dollar crisis would affect everyone.” The British
currency was in a bad situation. The country tried to maintain the value of the pound, but ended
up with a huge indebtedness. “The situation was kept in existence by agreements which were all
related to the dollar.” (Summit, part 1, pg 15)

Another aspect to be discussed was about Britain’s financial situation. Prime Minister Heath
acknowledged that “there were genuine doubts within the Community as to whether Britain was
prepared fully to accept the Community and its rules.” (Summit, part 2, pg 1) In the past decades
Britain faced tumultuous times, struggling with strikes, unemployment and inflation. There was
the fear that UK could not pay the costs of entry and later become a burden. But in the 70s
England was making an effort to modernize itself and also to reduce its indebtedness. President
Pompidou, who described the membership of the European Community as being a long-term
commitment, seemed convinced of Heath’s sincere intentions.

Regarding the terms for obtaining the membership, Sir Con O’Neill points out that “things had
developed in the Community without us” and, as Lord Boothby affirmed, “if we have now to
accept one thousand regulations…we have only ourselves to blame.” (O'Neil 355) Britain was in
a weak position, due to its previous failed applications, therefore was unable to impose many
things. The only thing the British could do was to achieve its objectives at a reasonable price and
to hope to renegotiate some aspects later. But towards this issue the opinions were very opposed.
While Harold Wilson insisted “that Britain should only join the common market on ‘favourable’
terms”, Lord Crowther believed that one should “not haggle over the subscription when you are
invited to climb into a lifeboat. You scramble aboard while there is still a seat for you.” (O'Neil
355)

Two years after applying, which implied arduous discussions and negotiations, Britain was
finally part of the European Community. But the country was now shaken by some serious
problems. On the background of a severe oil crisis, which led to the three working days week,
arose the question: isn’t Britain paying too much for the membership? “The British took a
pragmatic view of Europe, (…) and looked for material gains; when such gains failed to emerge,
the sense of disappointment was all the worse.” (Young 281) Sir Con O’Neill specifies that
Britain had to accept some arrangements which appeared to be in the disadvantage of the British,
such as: fishery, agricultural transition, food colorants and antibiotics. But he also points out that
the Heath-Pompidou Summit was a success and Britain has advantages from being member of
the Community. But in his view, the country should focus on its internal abilities to gain
success and to solve its problems, because “the Community certainly offers us opportunities. But
nothing could be more misleading or more dangerous than to suppose that is offers us a certain
remedy for our deficiencies…” (O'Neil 360)
Bibliography:
Jinks, James. GOV.UK. <https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/harold-
macmillan>.

Larousse. Istoria lumii de la origini pana in anul 2000. Bucuresti: Olimp, n.d.

"Margaret Tatcher Foundation." 2005. "Condemned to succeed": the Heath-Pompidou summit

which took Britain into the E.E.C, May 1971. <http://www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/heath-
eec.asp>.

Margaret Tatcher Foundation . <http://www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/heath-eec.asp>.

O'Neil, Sir Con. Hannay, Sir David. Britain's Entry into the European Community: report by Sir
Con O'Neil on the negotiations of 1970-1972. London: Whitehall History Publishing, 2000.

Reynolds, David. Britannia Overruled: British Policy and World Power in the 20th Century.
London: Harlow Longman , 1991.

Wall, Stephan. The Official History of Britain and the European Community. Routledge, Taylor
& Francis Group, n.d.

Young, John W. "The Heath Government and the British entry into the European Community."
Seldon, Stuart Ball & Anthony. The Heath Government 1970-74. Harlow, 1996.

Lecture slides