Bullying Bonn: Anglo-German Diplomacy on European Integration, 1955–61

252 Pages·2000·1 MB·English

by  Martin P. C. Schaad (auth.)

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Bullying Bonn
Anglo-German Diplomacy on European
Integration, 1955–61
Martin P. C. Schaad
Researcher
Einstein Forum
Potsdam
Germany
in association with
ST ANTONY’S COLLEGE, OXFORD
First published in Great Britain 2000 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-40149-9 ISBN 978-0-333-98105-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780333981054
First published in the United States of America 2000 by
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, LLC,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schaad, Martin P. C., 1968–
Bullying Bonn : Anglo-German diplomacy on European integration, 1955–61 /
Martin P.C. Schaad
p. cm. — (St. Antony’s series)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
1. Germany—Foreign relations—Great Britain. 2. Great Britain—Foreign
relations—Germany. 3. European Union. 4. European Economic Community–
–Germany. 5. European Economic Community—Great Britain. 6. Europe–
–Economic integration. I. Title. II. Series.
DD120.G7 G35 2000
327.43041—dc21
00–027242
©Martin P. C. Schaad 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-69231-8
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P0LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained
forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
List of Abbreviations vii
Introduction 1
1 From Indifference to Hostility: Britain, Germany and
the Messina Project 13
2 Entering Wedge or Counterblast? Britain’s Plan G 39
3 Mistaken, Misled or Misguided? British Hopes for
German Mediation during the FTA Negotiations 69
4 ‘Bridge-Building’ or: the Trade War That Never Was 115
5 ‘Bully the Germans – Buy the French’:
Towards Britain’s First Application 135
Conclusion: Intersection or Periphery? 162
Notes 174
Bibliography 225
Index 236
v
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to Lothar Kettenacker, Piers Ludlow, Alan Milward,
Roger Morgan, George Peden and Jonathan Wright whose guidance
and critical advice has been invaluable. Furthermore, I would like
to thank Joachim Jens Hesse for supervising the DPhil thesis that
formed the basis of this study, and St Antony’s College, Oxford, for
providing a setting most conducive to academic inquiry and ex-
change. I owe thanks also to the staff of the various archives I
visited during the course of research, and to Michael von Brentano
for his kind permission to view the private papers of the German
Foreign Minister. I am forever indebted to the Carnegie Trust for
the Universities of Scotland for funding the doctorate, and to the
German Historical Institute, London, for the encouragement accorded
by awarding the thesis the annual prize of the Institute. Finally, I
am very thankful to John Daly, Gabriele Karl and Verena Strinz for
their help in preparing the typescript.
vi
List of Abbreviations
AA Auswärtiges Amt, Foreign Ministry
BA Bundesarchiv, Federal Archive
BDI Bund Deutscher Industrie, Federation of German Industry
BMA Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Federal Ministry for Labour
BMF Bundesministerium der Finanzen, Federal Finance Ministry
BML Bundesministerium für Landwirtschaft und Forsten, Fed-
eral Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry
BMWi Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Federal Ministry for
Economics
BMWZ Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit, Fed-
eral Ministry for Economic Co-operation
BoT Board of Trade
BStS Büro des Staatssekretär, State Secretarial Office in German
Foreign Ministry
BuKa Bundeskanzleramt, Office of the Federal Chancellor
CAB Cabinet
CBI Confederation of British Industry
CDU Christlich Demokratische Union
CSU Christlich Soziale Union
DPA Deutsche Presseagentur, German news agency
EC European Community
ECSC European Coal and Steel Community
EDC European Defence Community
EEC European Economic Community
EFTA European Free Trade Association
EP Economic Policy Committee
EPC European Political Community
EPU European Payments Union
ES Economic Steering Committee
EU European Union
EURATOM European Atomic Community
FAZ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
FBI Federation of British Industry
FO Foreign Office
FTA Free Trade Area
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
vii
viii List of Abbreviations
HM Her Majesty’s
HMG Her Majesty’s Government
HMSO Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
HOPS Home and Overseas Planning Staff Division (Treasury)
HPA Handelspolitische Abteilung, Foreign Ministry Department:
Trade Policy
IMF International Monetary Fund
ITV Independent Television
LA Länderabteilung, Foreign Ministry Department: Foreign
Relations by Country
MAC Mutual Aid Committee
MAD Mutual Aid Department (Foreign Office)
MADiv Mutual Aid Division (Treasury)
MB Ministerbüro, Ministerial Office in Foreign Ministry
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Northern German radio broad-
casting corporation
OECD Organisation for European Co-operation and Develop-
ment
OEEC Organisation for European Economic Co-operation
PA Politische Abteilung, Political Department of the Foreign
Ministry
PREM Prime Minister’s Office
PRO Public Record Office
StBKAH Stiftung-Bundeskanzler-Adenauer-Haus
T Treasury
TUC Trade Union Congress
UK United Kingdom
WEU Western European Union
Introduction 1
Introduction
A recurring theme in the history of postwar Anglo-European rela-
tions is that of numerous lost opportunities for Britain to have
taken part in continental integration well before she eventually
became a member of the European Economic Community (EEC) in
1973.1 Though the precise timing as to when the euphemistic ‘bus’
or ‘boat’ was missed remains in dispute, few commentators doubt
that Britain could have joined the six founding members of the
EEC at some stage before they had decided on the essential fea-
tures of their endeavour. A subtext to many expressions of this
view is the assumption that Britain could have (and not few im-
plicitly argue that she should have) taken the lead in the integration
process.2 Officials, politicians as well as many a commentator, ap-
pear to agree that the path of European integration could have
been decisively influenced and – if the need had arisen – redirected
had the British government been prepared to negotiate from within,
rather than ‘proffering advice over the garden wall’.3
And indeed, the single most important document leading to Britain’s
first and unsuccessful EEC application in 1961, the so-called Lee
Report, based its recommendations almost exclusively on the per-
ceived need to be inside the inner councils of the Six in order to
steer the development of the Community.4 Similarly, whenever British
politicians of the 1990s have argued for greater involvement in
Europe, their chosen metaphors have alluded to Britain returning
to ‘the heart of Europe’ or, more recently, for her to ‘take the driv-
ing seat’.5
Histories of Anglo-European relations frequently echo this view,
with a most explicit expression of this kind being found in Roy
Denman’s account of the British entry negotiations of 1970: ‘Our
1
M. P. C. Schaad, Bullying Bonn
© Martin P. C. Schaad 2000