The attempt by British capitalism to enter the European Economic Community has reached a new stage. Undoubtedly the recent International monetary crisis played a part in shifting the attitudes of the French in particular and gaining partial agreements on some of the disputed terms. No one should be surprised if the orginial terms demanded by the British are substantially modified or abandoned. The British ruling class is in a hurry: as far as it is concerned entry into the Common Market is a The attitude that the labour movement takes to the Common Market is crucial for the success of the mandeuvre. The function of people like Wilson to the bourgeoisie is to deliver the working class at the appropriate moment to the bourgeoisie in support of whatever policy they decide on. During his term of office Wilson was one of the enthusiastic supporters of big capital's European ambitions. His equivocations now do not represent a change The next period will be the test of the of heart. They simply reflect the divisions within the Labour Party itself. In fact, entry into the Common Market is radically opposed to THE BRITISH BOURGEOISIE AND THE the immediate material and the class interests of the labour movement.
The pro Common market MPs include the most powerful right wing members of the shadow cabinet led by Jenkins, Crosland and Healey. They argue that "the cause of social democracy, world peace and economic advance in both the developed and underdeveloped countries would be strengthened" by entry. Their socialist rhetoric however conceals a policy which can only lead to a severe set A counterlist of 119 MPs published in Tribune hung their opposition round a house of Commons motion which read "..this House believes that entry into the European Community on the terms so far envisaged would be against the interests of the country". What their position lacks is a grain of socialist class apposition. To oppose the Common Market solely on "economist" terms of the cost of living and to talk in terms of the interests of the country rather than the working class misses the whole point of the capitalist cless's strategy. It plays into the hands of nationalist flagwavers and undermines workers international co-operation both now and in A CAPITALIST SOLUTION TO CAPITALIST PROBLEMS The EEC is a capitalist solution to capitalist problems. It is a response to an intensification of the concentration and centralisation of Capital under the rapid capitalist expansion since 1945, and the increased level of penetration of US capital in Europe. Today the costs of investment are so huge that they cannot be financed within the confines of the national state. The only way that the European boargeoisies can meet the challenge of American imperialism is by the interpeastration of capital on a European scale. If that process were to be successfully accomplished a supernational European state would begin to take shape. However, the nationalisms of the various European bourgeoisies continually threaten to thwart this process. Now that the long boom years have ended this threat looms larger still.
The British bourgeoisie itself does not have a common interest in going into the market. For many small firms it will undoubtedly mean liquidation. The competitiveress of the average sized firm is at present very much in doubt. As has recently been demonstrated the rate of profit has fallen from 7.9% in 1965 to 3.2% in 1969, a decrease unparalleled in Europe, For these capitalists the attack on the working class through the reduction of the power of the trade unions, cuts in social services, wage freezes etc assumes a paramount importance. The Tory Government will be able to maintain the unity of the bourgeois camp just so long as if can sustain a successful attack on the working class. If it fails, then the fears of some sections of the capitalist class could develop into a movement of opposition to the Common Market. The ideological expression of this tendency is already to hand in the shape of The bankruptcy of the Labour Left lies in the fact that they conceal this essential process. A principled socialist position is ahways based on the independant interests of the working class. In this situation we neither support the backward-petty bourgeois who fear entry -that would be a utopian protest against the nature of capital itself-nor do we back the big bourgeoisie in their entry attempts. Ve fight to raise the consciousness of the working class by advancing positions based on its The Trade Union leadership are equivocating on the Common Market just as they equivocated on the trade union legislation. It is not the objective conditions that have been reponsible for a lack of socialist internationalism in Europe but a failure on the part of the bureaucratically led labour movement to live It is sometimes argued that entry to the Common Market by abolishing national frontiers will automatically lead to a rise in the consciousness of the working class. We should be aware of this type of argument. Working class consciousness will only be raised through independent struggle, If the only alternative posed against the EEC is the purely nationalist solution offered by the labour left national prejudices could be reinforced rather than weakened. A struggle to democratise the organized labour movement in the spirit of socialist internationalism must in the end be the answer to equipping the working class to combat the supernational The extension of the struggle against the anti-working class policies of the Tory Government onto an international level is the foundation of a socialist answer. The recent Ford strike showed the trend of working class struggle against international companies. What we should call for in the trade unions is for a generalisation and systematic organisation of international links between workers in different countries battling against the same companies. The co-ordination of wages policy against international companies is a minimum step to destroy the international wage differentials within the companies. At the same time we have to demand an international congress of workers delegates to work out strategy far combating the capitalist offensive interAbove and beyond these tasks there is the question of giving internationalism a real political expression. Here the building of revolutionary parties and a revolutionary international are crucial tasks. The formation of this revolutionary vanguard is a priority if the objective opportunities for overthrowing European capitalism which will come precisely as a result of its attempt to reconstruct a continental capitalist economy, are not to be missed. The more closely the economies of Europe became integrated, the more these upsurges in the class struggle take on an international character, and the more it will be necessary to respond successively in every The question of British entry into the Common Market has been on the agenda of European capitalism for more then tem years now. Whatever the urgency with which the Tory government is trying to get into the EEC, it cannot be stressed enough that the British bourgeoisie has approached the question with great reluctance. Faced with a declining market for its exports in the 'Commonweaith' British imperialism is forced to face its indus trial competitiors in Europe including the Common Market countries. The specific features of the present stage of inter-imperialist competition leave British capital no choice but to seek a solution in the EEC if it hopes to remain as an independent competitor in world capitalism. This is the dilemma of British imperialism and its outcome is by no Every hesitation and division within the capitalist class can weaken its chance of success. Since the existence of the EEC national capitalist rivalries have more than once threatened to break up the market. What stops them from breaking out in a bitter struggle is the alternative: a defeat at the hands of the European working class.
Every obstacle the workers can place in their way-by defeating the trade union legislation, the attempt to cut back wages, and the cuts in living standard; by throwing this Tory government out of office; by build ing international working class co-operation based on a perspective of joint struggle against European capital; by giving life to a truly revolutionary socialist international —is not only a major step towards overthrowing capitalism in Britain, but also a step towards realising that victory in the Socialist United