Stage 2

When the intricate negotiations were finally finished, many of the compromises reached in secret sessions could only be clarified by replaying miles of tape recordings in the Common Market's four official languages (French, German, Dutch, Italian). The document signed in Brussels last week had been four weary weeks in the making, and the final, grueling bargaining session took till dawn. But in the end, the Market solved the agricultural disagreements that had threatened its progress. The original treaty had allowed member nations to postpone the second, four-year phase of the Common Market timetable until a farm policy accord could be hammered out. With last week's agreement the Six waived that right, were ready to move into Phase 2, in which national vetoes will no longer be possible.

In effect, the Common Market nations have woven all their conflicting patchworks of farm supports and subsidies, quotas and tariffs into a single system that will 1) apply to all members uniformly; 2) gradually bring long-divergent price levels to a Market-wide median; 3) encourage the heavy consumers of farm produce, such as West Germany, to buy within the family from its biggest producers, notably France.

One-Price Loaf. One of the trickiest issues had been how to finance the Common Market's proposed new fund for agricultural supports. The French wanted a sliding system that would have put the heaviest burden on Germany; the Germans wanted a fixed assessment. On this issue, the Germans had their way. On other issues, notably price, they had to retreat.

To cushion the impact of change, the agreement calls for a system of "variable levies" which, at the end of an eight-year transitional period, will replace all existing controls. Import and export prices for farm produce will be set for each country by the Common Market's central executive, which will have the power to set "target prices'' (resembling U.S. support prices) for commodities and buy them for storage when high production forces down the market price. Ultimately, by gradual adjustment of target prices between nations, a loaf of white bread should cost no more in Bonn (current price per pound: 14-c-) than in Paris (6-c-), though Bonn won agreement that the move toward a common grain price will not begin until the 1964 harvest.

Equally important to the consumer is the Market's decision to abolish import embargoes. At West Germany's insistence, any nation may still ban key imports such as grain, wine, poultry, pork or vegetables if it fears disruption of its internal market. But after a brief grace period (example: four days for apples), a Common Market commission can revoke the ban if it appears to lack serious justification.

Irreversible Commitment. The planned eight-year transition period will see a drastic reorganization of traditional European agricultural patterns. As governments strive to make their farms competitive, countless families from Bavaria to south ern Italy will be forced off marginal farms; in most cases, they will be drawn into Europe's industry, which faces serious manpower shortages. In West Germany alone, planners estimate that 1,000,000 farms will be abandoned or consolidated. (The new Market-wide fund will help compensate farmers forced off the land.)

With the settlement in agriculture, the Common Market's Phase 2 is about to be gin, and will now lead irreversibly by Jan. 1, 1966 to reduction by at least 50% of all original duties, and by the end of its third phase, in 1970 at the present rate of progress, to final abolition of all remaining duties and quotas between the member states. Impressed by the agreement, Britain last week pressed with new confidence for Common Market membership, and the U.S. took a big step toward expanded trade with it (see THE NATION ). Said Konrad Adenauer of the Brussels ac cord: "This is one of the most important events of European history in centuries."

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