AMBASSADOR'S CORNER
WEEKLY
MESSAGE FROM AMBASSADOR JOHN BRUTON
July 18, 2005
There are only a few people of whom it can be
said that they peacefully changed the map of
Europe. Helmut Kohl and Mikhail Gorbachev would
be among that small number. Another such person
was Edward Heath, Prime Minister of Britain from
1970 to 1974, who died last weekend.
Edward Heath set out, as a member of the
government of Harold Macmillan in 1961, to
negotiate his country’s entry to the European
Common Market. His application was joined by
applications on behalf of Ireland and Denmark.
This negotiation came to a disappointing end on
the 14th of
January 1963 when the President of France,
Charles de Gaulle, vetoed British entry and
thereby Irish and Danish entry as well. In his
press conference in the Elysée Palace, President
de Gaulle claimed that Britain’s trading system
was “obviously incompatible” with that of the
existing Members. He said that, if Britain came
in, a lot of other countries would have to come
in too and that the close-knit Europe of the six
founding Members would be overwhelmed. “A
colossal Atlantic community would emerge under
American dependence and control, which would
soon swallow up the European Community,” he
claimed.
This veto was a huge disappointment to Edward
Heath, a man who had fought in the Second World
War, had seen the devastation it caused and was
determined that Britain would play its part in
uniting Europe so as to ensure that it would
never happen again.
After that setback, it is remarkable that Edward
Heath tried a second time, this time as Prime
Minister, to bring Britain into the European
Union. He spent twelve hours in face-to-face
negotiation with President De Gaulle’s
successor, President Pompidou. In that time he
convinced the new French President of his own
personal commitment to the European ideal.
I believe that, were it not for the personal
commitment of Edward Heath to the European
ideal, President Pompidou would never have taken
the difficult step of reversing the policy of
his revered predecessor. As a result of this
breakthrough Britain, Ireland and Denmark were
able to join the European Union in
1973. The precedent of allowing three new
Members to join opened the door to all the
subsequent EU
enlargements, right up to the present day.
That is why Edward Heath is one of those who
changed the map of Europe.
He was also the man who, in negotiation with his
Irish counterpart Liam Cosgrave, put in place
the Sunningdale Agreement, which is the model
upon which all subsequent attempts to solve the
problem of Northern Ireland have been based.
After twenty-five years of futile and foolish
violence, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998
returned to the exact formula originally
negotiated by Edward Heath and Liam Cosgrave. If
ever the futility of
terrorist violence has been demonstrated by
history, it was demonstrated by the history of
Northern Ireland since 1973.
Edward Heath is a man to whom political success
did not come easily. He was first elected to
Parliament by a majority of just 133 votes. He
had to spend five years as Leader of the
Opposition and lose one general election, before
he eventually became Prime Minister in 1970.
He should be remembered as the man who made the
enlargement of the European Union possible.
He was a great European and a great patriot.
Please send me your
comments
about this or any of my weekly messages, or
other EU matters. I look forward to hearing
from you!
John Bruton
Then-European
Commission President Roy Jenkins (Left) & Sir
Edward Heath.
Other
Weekly Messages
