Book Urges Inclusion Of U.K. In E.E.C.

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31519, 6 November 1967, Page 19

Book Urges Inclusion Of U.K. In E.E.C.

(Special Crspdt. N.Z.P A J ] LONDON, Nov. 3. j A new book, “Le Defi Americain” (the American challenge), by Jean-Jacques Ser-van-Schreiber, is rap- ■ idly becoming a bestseller' in France and has already been extensively publicised throughout Western Europe. It comes at a particularly' pertinent time as far as Bri-j tain's application to join the( Common Market is concerned, | because the challenge Mr I Servan-Schreiber poses is thel growth of the American pre-| sence in Europe economically. It is American technology,! know-how and managementj not dollars, that the author, calls the strength of the Ame-' rican challenge. Among the most important of his proposals is to admit Britain to the Common Market immediately. And his arguments appear formidable. The response to America I must be met by immediately I

concentrating on a build-up .of those European industries I most apt to meet the challenge successfully. “To strengthen the strong points,” he says. And it just so happens that Britain has most of the strong points. Among European countries Britain is the first with companies of world stature. In a list of the 500 largest companies in the world, Britain with 55, is second after the United States. After Britain come Germany with 30. France with 23 and Italy I eight In money spent on research; : Britain, among Western Euro-1 pean countries, spends 60 perl i cent of the total, the Com-, imon Market the other 40 per ; cent. Britain has concentrated I its efforts in the very areas where the Common Market is weakest electronics, nuclear energy and aeronautics. Mr Servan-Schreiber concludes that Britain would be the best possible ally. But the response must not stop there. The author calls for a system of European federalism, the base of which would be majority not unanimous rule, as it was now. Mr Servan-Schreiber is no

Gaullist but a firm critic of Gaullism. He owns “L’Express” a magazine which has a wide circulation on the Continent and which is to some extent modelled on “Time.”