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PLEASE ANNOUNCE IN .THE CHURCHES: Dale Hampton, director of the
Alcoholism section of the Human Potential Center will be at three
fall festival sites this year -- Seattle, Lake of the Ozarks and
Savannah, Ga. He will be conducting meetings for church members who
are also members of Alcoholics Anonymous, Alanon., · and other members
who would like to be better informed. A film.will be shown wherever
facilities permit. For further information about when he will be at
a particular site, please write Dale Hampton in care of the Human
Potential Center in Pasadena.
-- Art Mokarow, Human·Potential Center
COMMON EUROPEAN CURRENCY IDEA HEATS UP "Will U.S. President Jimmy
Carter succeed where Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin failed? Will he
frighten the Europeans into a genuine union, transforming ·their Com
munity from a glorified tariff union into a pol�tical family?"
This provocative question was asked in one of West Germany's leading
newspapers, the weekly Die Zeit of Hamburg in its April 23, 1978
edition.
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Die Ziet went on to explain that the European Community (Common
Mark�has existed only as an economic entity up until now whereas
the "political flywheel •••has stood still."
But now, according to this respected weekly, "the triple Carter shock
(his off-again-on-again behavior in connection with the neutron
device, the threatened embargo on uranium shipments and the dollar
weakness) has genuinely frightened Europe. Will this instill new life
into European integration efforts?"
At the Spring sununit conference of the EC in Copenhagen, the nine
governments again brushed off the old idea of a European currency
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union. This had been proposed -- in fact adopted -- as a major
Community objective in 1971. It was known then as the Werner Plan.
The oil crisis of 1973-4 and the resultant worldwide recession put an
effective squelch on the idea of an "EMU" (European Monetary Union).
In early 1975 the British weekly, The Economist, summed up the
prospects for the Werner Plan: "EMU is dead. What next?"
Now, however, interest in it is reviving, thanks to the dollar crisis
and uncertainties over American leadership. One of its biggest boosters
is Ray Jenkins, the British president of the EEC Commission. He has
been speaking out forcefully for its adoption in several forums re
cently. He realizes that an EMU, together with a single common
currency for Europe (to be introduced first as an addition to the
several national currencies) would be a "radicaI'institutional as
well as psychological change." But it is time, he feels, to overcome
inertia and make a "leap" towards EMU.
Jenkins also realizes that a monetary union and a common European
currency would provide a powerful stimulus to getting Europe's "poli
tical flywheel" (using Die Zeit's terminology) moving.
Direct popular elections to a restructured European Parliament are
scheduled next year. Jenkins envisions the strengthened Parliament
as being responsible for administering the common currency operations.
Thus, according to Jenkins, "there is no question that the creation
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of a monetary union would involve a significant transfer of power from
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member governments to the Community." This would be especially true
when coupled with increased power for the European Parliament.
This idea of an EMU is slowly building up momentum. It bears watching
to see how it develops further over the next few months.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau