European Union or Atlantic Union?

It is increasingly understood, clearly in some quarters and hazily as yet in others, that effective political organization does not mean self-limitation by treaties which may or may not be observed, but requires a transfer of certain powers from the people in individual states to the people of the European state. It may be paradoxical but is nevertheless true that the greater the need and the nearer the approach to this act, the more difficult it becomes formally to effect the change. The struggle centers on the different approaches made by the "federalists," who favor a European state with a government of limited but effective powers, and the "functionalists," who believe that inter-governmental cooperation will suffice to meet successive problems. That this is a split which cuts across national boundaries was made abundantly clear at Strasbourg in August when members of nearly every delegation divided into the two camps.…Underlying these birth pangs of a European union is the yearning of western European peoples for something new that promises to meet the economic, military, and political threats to their security. Against the weariness and apathy superficially prevalent in France, Italy, and western Germany the increasing consciousness of Europe and search for European solutions to problems is a conspicuously positive force. The people of these territories have approved constitutional provisions authorizing the transfer of sovereignty to a supra-national organization. European intellectuals persistently remind each other that they have a common culture in that they share the same fundamental ethical and philosophical beliefs. The ideological basis of the movement for a united Europe is one of its chief characteristics. It is clearly expressed in the preamble of the Statute of the Council of Europe. Here the participating governments reaffirm "their devotion to the spiritual and moral values which are the common heritage of their peoples and the true source of individual freedom, political liberty and the rule of law, principles which form the basis of all genuine democracy." It is on these terms that responsible leaders in western Europe emphatically reiterate that the arrangements they are working out are open to the people of all Europe. The impetus given the movement for union in western Europe by developments east of the Elbe since 1945 can scarcely be overestimated.The detachment with which the United Kingdom views these developments in western Europe is perplexing.…That supra-national organization can be democratically responsible does not seem to be widely understood in the United Kingdom.…But all western European countries today share to a degree the dilemma of economic and military dependence on the United States, which has increased as the movement for European unity has grown. This dependence raises serious doubts as to whether the security of a united Europe would be assured without our participation. It challenges the validity of European union in terms of its fundamental objectives.…In western Europe the effect of the decision to establish an Atlantic army has been direct and immediate. As evidence of the serious intent of the United States to participate in effective defense preparations it has gone far to dispel the mood of hesitation and reluctance in which western European governments have faced rearmament. Most importantly, it accepts their contention that effective rearmament on a national basis is no longer feasible for any western European state. Its effect on European aspirations for union has been less the center of attention than has its effect on the problem of German rearmament.