Austria and the 'Outer Seven'
KREISKY, BRUNO
Austria and the 'Outer Seven' By Bruno Kreisky Austrian Foreign Minister VIENNA THE DECISION of seven Western European countries—the "Stockholm group"—to join in a free trade association is a...
...And not only did Austria recover from the loss of her trade with the East—which amounted to 33 per cent of the total and which dropped to about 12 per cent—but it expanded its exports to other parts of the world...
...Although EEC was established solely as an economic union, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer has stressed another aspect of the community...
...On another occasion, Adenauer said: "As long as its political purpose is not imperiled, EEC may be as liberal as possible in its economic policy...
...We are endeavoring to achieve the political integration of West Europe through the European Common Market as a means of protecting Western Europe from the pressure of the East...
...Thus, in the central body of EEC, the German Federal Republic, Italy and France each have four votes, Belgium and the Netherlands each have two, and Luxembourg has one...
...The Stockholm Seven hopes that the EFTA will be considered as the first step toward creation of a trading association that will embrace all of Europe...
...It has been said that recent developments have presented some dangers to the Austrian economy...
...Since Austria has joined the EFTA, I would like to describe the reasons for our decision to forgo membership in the EEC...
...The proportion of all Austrian exports to EFTA as to EEC countries is one to five...
...In Stockholm, the EFTA laid plans for undertaking steps to negotiate an understanding between the Common Market countries and the members of EFTA...
...The EEC principle of trade, as expressed in the Rome Treaty of the "Inner Six," is to "contribute through a common commercial policy to the progressive lifting of restrictions in international trade...
...This means that if the three largest states, or two of the larger ones and a smaller state, reach an agreement on a vital question, the decision is binding on all EEC countries, even if some of the other signatories find that the decision causes certain domestic difficulties...
...Recently, six other European countries formed the European Economic Community (EEC...
...This is not correct...
...One factor was the constitutional provision in the EEC charter...
...Some politicians expressed the view that Austria had little or nothing to gain from joining the EFTA...
...While it is true that the EEC does derive a considerable advantage from its acceptance of the majority principle, as any similarly organized community would, the question remains as to whether potential members of EEC might not be under a disadvantage should they join under present conditions...
...the proportion of export of finished products is one to seven...
...Austria and the 'Outer Seven' By Bruno Kreisky Austrian Foreign Minister VIENNA THE DECISION of seven Western European countries—the "Stockholm group"—to join in a free trade association is a step of far-reaching importance...
...This political aspect—and I assert this most positively—has been the basic framework of our actions, and I am convinced that our partners in EEC share our opinion...
...He said: "For the Six, the EEC is first of all a political grouping...
...In these statements it seems to me that Adenauer has outlined both the possibilities and the limits of what may be involved in associating with EEC...
...I don't want to neglect the possibility of difficulties...
...The Outer Seven includes countries heavily dependent on foreign trade for their present living standards, which compare with the highest in the world...
...Following a period of intense preparatory work, the "Outer Seven" agreed to a convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to eliminate barriers to mutual trade...
...It is difficult to go into the details of this somewhat controversial point, but I think it is important to point out that the EEC accepts the principle of majority rule and that the statutes of the EEC provide that every member's weight in a common decision is based on its size...
...There are, in addition, a number of other considerations which deserve analysis...
...Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the landlocked countries, Austria and Switzerland, and the two traditional trading allies, the United Kingdom and Portugal...
...Western European trade has been expanding rapidly, and the countries of the Outer Seven are desirous of widening the area of European economic cooperation...
...Swedish Minister of Commerce Gunnar Lange has described the aims of the plan as "liberalization not only of European trade but of world trade...
...The EFTA comprises the Scandinavian countries...
...However, the Austrian economy was able to weather conditions which were considerably more adverse some years following the end of World War II...
...I think it is to the credit of Austria, as well as to that of Switzerland and Denmark who supported us (or perhaps I should say it was Austria who supported them), that the agreement which was signed declares in its preamble that the aim of the organization is European-wide integration...
Vol. 43 • April 1960 • No. 17
