Suchergebnisse

THAT THERE IS ROOM FOR DOUBT TODAY ABOUT WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR THE COMMUNITIES NOBODY WILL DENY. THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN IN TROUBLE FOR AT LEAST FIVE YEARS, AND DESPITE THE SUCCESSION OF SUMMITS THE TROUBLE HAS NOT BEEN FULLY DISPOSED OF. THE ENLARGEMENT NEGOTIATIONS ARE THE DEMONSTRATION - OR ONE MORE DEMONSTRATION - OF THE DIFFICULTY THE COMMUNITY IS HAVING IN COMING TO TERMS WITH ITSELF. AND, WORSE, A FURTHER PROCESS OF 'INSTITUTIONAL DRIFT' IS MAKING ITS OPERATION YET MORE INTERGOVERNMENTAL. THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN LIVING WITH ITS BUDGET PROBLEM SINCE 1979. ACTUALLY, THE PROBLEM WAS PINPOINTED RIGHT AT THE START OF THE BRITISH ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS, IN THE AUTUMN OF 1970, BUT AT THAT TIME THE COMMUNITY PREFERRED TO LET IT RIDE. AFTER ALL THERE WAS TO BE A SEVEN-YEAR TRANSITION PERIOD, WHICH IT WAS SAID AND HOPED - OUGHT TO BE ENOUGH TO PUT THINGS RIGHT, AND BESIDES THERE WAS THE FAMOUS ASSURANCE THAT ANY 'UNACCEPTABLE SITUATION' WOULD BE REMEDIED.