Evening star., 1954-11-11

lltGle ntue ticket may De lOOkef
on as q momento Of real histo.
rical Importance.
For the casual observer, ths
opening Of Europe's first real in.
>---~------------~-~
This Is the first Of two articles in whieI
M. Noyes reports on crucial. frs
step toword European union.
>~--------->->----->-
ternational court had little of thu
fanfare that usually goes with
q great historical event. The
crowd at the Luxembourg mu.
nicipal center was made up
largely of officials and their
families. The severely modern
courtroom, loaned by the city
for the occasion and filled with
chrome and plastic furniture,
had q temporary and unpainted
look about 1t. The courts seven
judges in their claret- colored
gowns and curious medieval bon
nets seemed a little self CONS
cious and insure of themselves.
The case itself. except for the
experts. was hard to follow. The
appeal of the French government
against the High Authority's fair
trade regulations seemed a bit
too technical to make good head
lines.
Dramatic Moments.
And yet, for all the flaws In
the staging, the scene was not
without dramatic moments. AS
Paul Reuter-, attorney for the
French government rose to adj
dress the court. the real story
behind the humdrum exterior
became clear enough.
"At the beginning of the case,
said Mr.. Reuter-, "the French
government wishes to declare
that whatever may be the deci-
sion of the court, it will be final
SO far as we are concerned. This
declaration is not only in line
with our signed agreement. It
is also a proper recognition of
the complete confidence due to
this court. its president and the
other personalities called to this
bench"
What the lawyer was saying
marked the opening Of a new
chapter in the history of inter-
national law. For most of his
hearers, it also marked q new
and significant step toward the
ideal of European unity.
Here in Luxembourg for the
first time in history a sovereign
nation has come before an inter-
national court, bound before
hand to obey its decision. For
the first time. a lawyer repre-
senting Europe" as a real coali-
tion with sovereign right has
argued the case of the larger
community against the state.
For their part, the seven judges
are setting out with no legal
history to guide them to pioneer
a brand-new field in which law,
applied from above, regulates
disputes between nations.
At q time when the ideal of
a united Europe has been taking
a beating, these facts come as
a reassuring reminder. Every
ones attention has been riveted
so firmly on the problems of
military integration in Europe
that the only practical working
example of European union has
been all but forgotten. The te-
dious. unspectacular job of
bringing order and efficiency to
Europe's hopelessly fragmented
coal and steel industries has at
tracted little notice. And still.
while such colorful projects as
the European Defense Com
munity die aborning, there
exists in Luxembourg today q
genuine "supranational" gov
ernment which-limited as its
scope may be-is already radi-
cally changing relations be-
tween states.
Court Has Last Word.
In this governmental process,
the High Court, which has now
officially opened for business,
has the last word. Two years
ago, when the six member ma
tions of the community -
France. Germany, Italy, Bel
gium, Holland and Luxembourg
decided to turn over effective
control Of their coal and steel
industries to the High Author
ity it was anticipated that dis
putes would arise. No matter
how cautious and prudent the
directors of the community
might be--and in the first two
years the High Authority has
carefully avoided treading on
too many toes-sooner or later
some member government would
inevitably take a dim view of
an Authority ruling, And so a
permanent court with repre-
sentatives from each Of the
member states was set up to
settle these arguments, with all
parties solemnly undertaking to
respect the decisions as final
and binding.
So far as Mr.. Monnet is con-.
cerned, it's high time that the
court hoe hooy, co1Iad ~, tn foka