Brussels, 22/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - There can be no doubt that the results of the referendum of Thursday 23 June on the future of the United Kingdom in the European Union could be described as historical if the British decide to end relations with the European partners.
To mark the occasion, EUROPE has decided to take a look through its archives to give its contemporary readers an overview of the days when the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Community in 1973 was celebrated, as both a “historic event” and simply putting right the “mistake” committed when the construction of a “united Europe” began. The first text is an editorial signed by Emanuele Gazzo, the first editor-in-chief of Agence Europe. The second is an article describing the ways in which this first enlargement was celebrated in London and in Brussels. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)
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Brussels, 02/01/1973 (Agence Europe) - Yesterday, the Community became what it should have been 20 years ago. It has not now undergone a change or an enlargement, strictly speaking: it is, instead, the conclusion and the completion of the original blueprint. None of those who devised the construction of a united Europe imagine that this could have been done without the United Kingdom. It has taken 20 years to put right this mistake and for the “realists”, on either side of the English Channel, to acknowledge this reality. 20 years is a long-time, but we must take it as a lesson that mistakes are expensive.
This is why the event that has just happened, and which is without any doubt an historic event, can be seen by us as both far more important and far less unforeseen and unexpected than some would care to admit.
And how many times have we written, repeated, indefatigably, for all of these 20 years, that the event was inevitable and vital, and that everything possible should be done to bring it about more quickly?
Now it's been done. We are starting again, trying to avoid the same mistakes. (…)
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London, 02/01/1973 (Agence Europe) - The concrete reality of the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Community has been very much headline news over the last two days.
In statements and interviews, the Prime Minister, Mr Heath, stressed the historic importance of the event. In a message broadcast by the BBC, Heath announced that “far more than a common market, the Europe of Nine is a Community within which we will be able to work together for the achievement of our common objectives”. When asked about the future political organisation of Europe and, in particular, the possible creation of a supranational Parliament, the Prime Minister said that he felt that a supranational institution was not the best way to tackle the issue, as the Community is in itself something the world has never before seen. It has its own means of sharing sovereignty and exercising controls on the drafting and execution of decisions.
In an article in “The Times”, Heath writes: “we are now entering a new phase and we can take the opportunities of which so much has been said. The aim of the Community is not to water down national traditions but, quite the reverse, to add a new European dimension to them, to allow us to achieve things together that we would not be strong enough to accomplish on our own”.
Heath went on to stress that it was wrong to suggest that the British people lack enthusiasm for the Community: “with their pragmatic and phlegmatic ways, the British expect us to act”. As for Mr Harold Wilson (leader of the Labour opposition: Ed), he has once again publicly engaged to renegotiate the conditions for the UK to join and to hold a referendum or new elections on the subject.
Ambassador Palliser dubbed Sir Michael
The Queen has conferred a knightly distinction upon the British Ambassador to the Communities, who now becomes the Permanent Representative of his country: he will henceforth be known as Sir Michael Palliser.
A “history-making” motorcade from London to Brussels
As we reported, the United Kingdom's accession to the Community has been celebrated by a series of festivities and ceremonies under the name “Fanfare for Europe”. In particular, in a “motorcade” from London to Brussels via Ostend, organised by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, 65 vintage cars will gather outside the Berlaymont on 7 January. Lord Montagu will deliver a petition to the Commission calling upon it to allow historical vehicles to continue to drive on European roads. The vehicles include motorcycles, a fire engine and a 1930s double-decker bus.
A Belgian in Scottish national costume playing the bagpipes
When Big Ben marked the transition from 1972 to 1973, a team of BBC journalists was broadcasting direct from the Studios of the European Commission on Rue de la Loi, Brussels, along with the Director General for Information, Mr Rabier, and the spokesperson, Mr Olivi. A Belgian police officer dressed in a kilt was playing the bagpipes, like a real Scotsman.