Modern History Sourcebook:
President Charles de Gaulle:
Le Grand "Non": Britain's Proposed Entry Into The Common Market, May 16,
1967
French Statement, May 16, 1967[]. . . the Common Market is a sort of prodigy. To introduce into it now new and massive
elements, into the midst of those that have been fit together with such difficulty, would
obviously be to jeopardize the whole and the details and to raise the problem of an
entirely different undertaking. All the more that if the Six have been able to build this
famous edifice it is because it concerned a group of continental countries, immediate
neighbors to each other, doubtless offering differences of size, but complementary in
their economic structure. Moreover, the Six form through their territory a compact
geographic and strategic unit. It must be added that despite, perhaps because of their
great battles of the past-I am naturally speaking of France and Germany - they now find
themselves inclined to support one another mutually rather than to oppose one another.
Finally, aware of the potential of their material resources and their human values, all
desire either aloud or in whispers that their unit constitute one day an element that
might provide a balance to any power in the world.Compared with the motives that led the Six to organize their unit, we understand for
what reasons, why Britain-who is not continental, who remains, because of the Commonwealth
and because she is an island, committed far beyond the seas, who is tied to the United
States by all kinds of special agreements-did not merge into a Community with set
dimensions and strict rules. While this Community was taking shape, Britain therefore
first refused to participate in It and even took toward it a hostile attitude as if she
saw in It an economic and political threat. Then she tried to negotiate in order to join
the Community, but in such conditions that the latter would have been suffocated by this
membership. The attempt having failed, the British Government then asserted that it no
longer wanted to enter the Community and set about strengthening its ties with the
Commonwealth and with other European countries grouped around it in a free-trade area.
Yet, apparently now adopting a new state of mind, Britain declares she is ready to
subscribe to the Rome Treaty, even though she is asking exceptional and prolonged delays
and, as regards her, that basic changes be made in the Treaty's implementation. At the
same time, she acknowledges that in order to arrive there, it will be necessary to
surmount obstacles that the great perceptiveness and profound experience of her Prime
Minister have qualified as formidable.This is true, for instance, of the agricultural regulations. We know that they tend to
have the countries of the Community nourish themselves on what they produce and to
compensate, by what is called "financial levies," for all the advantages that
each could have in importing less expensive produce from elsewhere. Now, Britain nourishes
herself, to a great extent, on food-stuffs bought inexpensively throughout the world and,
particularly, in the Commonwealth. If she submits to the rules of the Six, then her
balance of payments will be crushed by "levies" and, on the other hand, she
would then be forced to raise the price of her food to the price level adopted by the
continental countries, consequently to increase the wages of her workers and, thereby, to
sell her goods all the more at a higher price and with more difficulty. It is clear that
she cannot do this. But, if she enters the Community without being really subjected to the
agricultural system of the Six, this system will thereby collapse, completely upsetting
the equilibrium of the Common Market and removing for France one of the main reasons she
can have for participating in it.Another basic difficulty arises from the fact that, among the Six, it is a rule that
capital circulates freely to promote expansion, but that in Britain-if she were allowed to
enter-it is forbidden for capital to leave so as to limit the balance-of-payments deficit,
a deficit that, despite praiseworthy efforts and some recent progress, still remains
threatening. How can this problem be solved? For it would be for the British an excessive
risk to eliminate the sluice-gates which, in Britain, block the movement of money to the
outside and, for the Europeans, it would be unthinkable to take into the organization a
partner which, in this respect, would find itself isolated in such a costly regime,Also, how can it not be seen that the very situation of the pound sterling prevents the
Common Market from incorporating Britain. The very fact that the organization of the Six
is entirely freeing their mutual trade necessarily implies that the currency of the member
countries has a constant relative value and that, if it happened that one of them were
disturbed, the Community would ensure its recovery. But this is possible only due to the
well-established soundness of the mark, the lira, the florin, the Belgian franc and the
French franc. Now, without despairing of seeing the pound hold its own, for a long time we
would not be assured that it will succeed. . . . Monetary parity and solidarity are the
essential conditions of the Common Market and assuredly could not be extended to our
neighbors across the Channel, unless the pound appears, one day, in a new situation and
such that its future value appears assured; unless it also frees itself of the character
of reserve currency; unless, finally, the burden of Great Britain's deficitary balances
within the sterling area disappear. When and how will this happen?What is true, at this very moment, from the economic standpoint, would also be true,
eventually, from the political standpoint. The idea, the hope which, from the beginning,
led the Six continental countries to unite, tended without any doubt toward the formation
of a unit which would be European in all respects, and, because of this would become
capable not only of carrying its own weight in production and trade, but also of acting
one day politically by itself and for itself toward anyone. Considering the special
relations that tic the British to America, with the advantage and also the dependence that
results for them; considering the existence of the Commonwealth and their preferential
relations with it; considering the special commitment that they still have in various
parts of the world and which, basically, distinguishes them from the continentals, we see
that the policy of the latter, as soon as they have one, would undoubtedly concur, in
certain cases, with the policy of the former. But we cannot see how both policies could
merge, unless the British assumed again, particularly as regards defense, complete command
of themselves, or else if the continentals renounced forever a European Europe.[]In truth, it really seems that the change in the situation of the British in relation
to the Six, once we would be ready by common consent to proceed with it, might consist of
a choice between three issues.Either recognize that, as things stand at present, their entry into the Common Market,
with all the exceptions that it would not fail to be accompanied by, with the irruption of
entirely new facts, new both in nature and in quantity, that would necessarily result from
this entry, with the participation of several other States that would certainly be its
corollary, would amount to necessitating the building of an entirely new edifice,
scrapping nearly all of that which has just been built. What, then, would we end tip with
if not, perhaps, the creation of a free-trade area of Western Europe, pending that of the
Atlantic area, which would deprive our continent of any real personality?Or, establish, between the Community on the one band, and Britain and some States of
the "little" free-trade area on the other, a system of association, such as the
one provided for in the Treaty of Rome and which could, without creating an upheaval,
multiply and facilitate the economic relations between the contracting parties.Or else, lastly, before changing what exists, wait until a certain internal and
external evolution, of which Great Britain seems already to be showing signs, is
eventually completed, that is to say, until that great people which is endowed with
tremendous ability and courage has itself accomplished first and for its part the
necessary profound economic and political transformation so that it can join with the Six
continental countries. I really believe that this is the desire of many people, who are
anxious to see the emergence of a Europe corresponding to its natural dimensions and who
have great admiration and true friendship for Britain. If, one day, she were to come to
this point, how warmly France would welcome this historic conversion.
Source:Remarks, made by President Charles de Gaulle at his fifteenth press conference on May
16, 1967, were made available through the courtesy of the French Press and Information
Service, New York.
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© Paul Halsall, July 1998
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