Part 14 (1/2)
SUNDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER East Hendred and Dublin
The end of the long holiday and, alas, al we had had Crispin arrived to take orous after his Hi been bitten by a dog in so to have a series of rabies injections
On arrival in Dublin we drove to the hurling ground where, at the pressing invitation of the Taoiseach, ere to watch the all-Ireland chained that it was a sort of rustic occasion, with soreen (I am not sure that I was absolutely clear of the distinction between hurling and curling) Instead of this there was a ground the size of Twickenham or Cardiff Arreat Irish state occasion, with not only the Taoiseach (Jack Lynch) but his predecessor Liaue) and all sorts of Irish dignitaries present in the boxes I found the gahly enjoyable, a curious ot a sufficiently clear view of the form by half-time to bet Colley, the Minister of Finance, that Cork would be the victors over Kilkenny, and this was not just a wild guess I would gladly have invested more than 5, which hat I won However, it was a hile bet for it became much publicized, as did ood for the Commission profile in Ireland
MONDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER Dublin and London
Left the hotel about 1000 to go and see the Taoiseach in his norhtest for player himself, he was exhausted fro with the tea into the European Monetary Systeh attaching rowth not being cut back than to any iional Fund
Then awith three or four of the other htly more detailed issues as well The Irish were rumble than the last time I saw them, and indeed went out of their way to say that their relations with the Coiven by the Taoiseach in Iveagh House, ent for a drive and a walk round Phoenix Park on a ton Park Gardens just before 6 o'clock
David and Debbie Owen careeable David, although he had been rather in favour of a spring election, obviously thought that one for early October was now definitely fixed Equally obviously he thought that he would not be Foreign Secretary after the election whatever happened, because if Labour won Healey would take over He was rather disappointed at the thought of the election cancelling the Labour Party Conference, at which he believed he ood vote for the National Executive Committee
Jennifer and I then went to the Capitol Hotel for dinner with the Soatons, Gordon Richardsons and John Harris's Soah and firm on Europe and on the Monetary System, Gordon reticent, a bit wobbly, but not in ton rather hopeless about his ability to deal with Mrs Thatcher and indeed very depressed about the prospects, saying quite firainst and that there would not be enough pro-European strength in a Tory Cabinet to carry her along
TUESDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER London and Brussels
To the National Westminster Bank in the City where I addressed their ional boards (a total of about fifty people) on the EMS 330 plane to Brussels and the new term
THURSDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER Brussels, Rome and Bussento
840 plane to Rome Drove to the Eden Hotel where the Italian Government had reserved a suite for us, and worked there fro with Andreotti and Forlani and three or four other people Andreotti was on typical forreeable and on the ball; he hadn't had much holiday, but I don't think he likes holidays; and he was talking in a er on econorounds, to come into the European Monetary Systeet as much out of it as possible The Italians arethan the Irish The thrust of his dees in the Coricultural Policy rather than on the transfer of resources as conventionally defined The discussion continued over lunch with about fourPandolfi,24 the Minister of the Treasury, whohly, until about 3 o'clock There was an informal 'on the hoof' press and TV conference as we left the Palazzo Chigi
Hayden, Laura and I left by self-drive hired car, but with police escort, andweather As usual there were heavy downpours around the Bay of Naples We then drove on down a very crowded and wet an a difficult twenty-six-mile drive over the hills to arrive at Bussento (and the Bonham Carters) at 915
SUNDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER Bussento and Roood day of weather Left after lunch for Naples (a two-and-a-half-hour drive), deposited our car at the Excelsior Hotel and were then rushed through the streets with a quite unnecessary screaht the rapido to Rome To the Hassler Hotel and to dinner in the roof restaurant, where ere joined, at his urgent request, by E to co-apparently we hadn't replied to some point which he had raised in a letter But this (as I suspected) could hardly have been less accurate What he wanted us to do was to provide him with some facts and preferably even a draft speech for the Jean Monnet Lecture at Florence, the successor to ive and which he wanted to be as helpful as possible
MONDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER Rome and Brussels
Breakfasted on htly misty and autumnal but very warm and sunny Rome: a spectacular view 945 plane Flew in beautiful weather to about Coblenz and then bumped for twenty minutes into Brussels on as nasty a day as one could easily iood talk with hiood listener However, he obviously thinks that if they win in the spring there is a 6070 per cent chance of his becon Secretary He doesn't totally exclude the Heath possibility but thinks it unlikely; doesn't wholly by any means exclude the John Davies possibility either, but hopes that won't happen Does clearly exclude the Soames possibility, and is also unenthusiastic about the viehich I canvassed to him, which I had previously canvassed to Soareeted with riculture for eighteen ton says this is because he thinks there couldn't be two ministers -particularly two ministers concerned with Europe-in the Lords (He may feel a bit that he couldn't control Soames) However, he was very anxious to discuss what he could overnment, in the Council of Ministers, etc, and anxious to kno he could make a favourable European impact At the same time he was not at all confident how effectively he could direct a Conservative Cabinet in such a direction As always he was glooly pro David Owen
WEDNESDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER Luxe between 900 and 1000, then into the Parlia-delayed statement on Bremen and Bonn (no previous opportunity); quite well done, not too long I folloith twelve minutes on the sa and afternoon, which was almost entirely devoted to the EMS Sixteen speakers out of nineteen were in favour, and to soreat contrast with our Deceet the Parlia it seriously
I took Christopher Tugendhat to lunch and found him half attracted by the idea of an outside inquiry into the Commission25 but half worried for his own portfolio responsibilities
I wound up the Bremen/Bonn debate with an impromptu speech of ten minutes, and then returned to Brussels by avion taxi at 7 o'clock It was a , not very warm but absolutely clear sky, extremely low humidity, the first perfect day of autumn At rue de Praetere I found Robert Marjolin whoht I had a three-hour dinner with him alone He is an extreht, on the board of a nuh-class companies, Royal Dutch, Chase Manhattan, General Motors, American Express He is a bit cynical, both about Europe and about French politics, but orth talking to; I got him on to the subject of what one should do with the Commission and found him favourable to what I had in gestions about names, but would not undertake it himself 'Like you,' he said, 'I aested Pierre Dreyfus, ex-head of Renault, as a possible chairman, but then withdrew his na Director of the IMF
THURSDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER Brussels
Lunch with Crispin for Calvo Sotelo, the Spanish Minister for European Affairs, and Bassols,26 their Ambassador; two and a quarter hours' detailed conversation in French However, Calvo Sotelo, as I thought in Madrid in April, is a solid, considerable, sensible s, including not least the Giscard letter to heads of govern that 'Three Wise Men' look at the future of European institutions I had known this was around for some time, and of course it was all part of the subject he had broached withbecause it coincides with my idea of an outside inquiry into the Commission However, I don't intend to be put off because of that; his inquiry and mine have different terms of reference, and indeed a different subject
As I told Calvo Sotelo, I ah I know sonon-both of anted to issue denunciatory state, whoitated, is not so No doubt there is a desire in Giscard's mind to cut down the power of the Commission, to reduce or eliminate our political role, our connection with Parliaamate us with the Council secretariat and with COREPER, and thus to make us all into servants of the European Council This must clearly be resisted and soht at the back of his mind, which is to revert to the old Directoire idea and to reforreater power to the major countries, particularly France and Ger the rigid defensive view that everything is perfect (it is certainly far froe I am sure it would be foolish for the Coether the Giscard initiative requires delicate playing
I talked also with Calvo Sotelo about his worries that the Greeks ht be put up by the French to do this, and tried to reassure hinon, partly about the Giscard letter but mainly to disclose y weekend, I had an hour with Siad Barre, the President of So him in the Berlaymont He is one of the few Africans who is neither francophone nor anglophone, though he speaks both, but Italian better than either Although a good linguist, he is not a vastly intelligent man, an old Marxist, who has quarrelled bitterly with the Russians in the course of the past year I had a desultory conversation with hiot better over dinner I made a brief three- to his English not being perfect he was not sure that he could e an adequate reply, and then produced a spate of more or less coherent words for thirty-two minutes
FRIDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER Brussels and Co with Gundelach, enda for the weekend, and found hiood and firm Then I saw his new Director-General, Vilain, a Frenchatory' in DG6, but was surprised, expecting to see an elegant Inspecteur de Finance, to discover a rather young, stolid-looking ht be a policeman Gundelach had told me that he seemed rather 'square' but I wasn't quite sure of his use of the word in English; however it seeet on with: unable to speak English
At 1215 I received Warren Burger, the Chief Justice of the United States He being the Third Citizen, it was held that I should go down and meet him, which I did, and then had three-quarters of an hour's conversation before taking hiht word I thought vaguely of what Ihim a little about how Community institutions work, but found this happily totally unnecessary, as he talked the whole time-but well-about Supre his dotage but was quite a personality
At 330 I saw Ortoli for the last of my conversations with Coht, perhaps a little less enthusiastic about reform (of the Co to have a row about it Drove with Jennifer to the Hostellerie Saint Roch at Comblain La Tour in the valley of the Ourthe
SAturdAY, 16 SEPTEMBER Coendhat's paper on budget balance and future resources, a paper of Giolitti's, soood this first half Then Gundelach gave a very long but really rather brilliant expose of the agricultural position We got alreeh anti-surplus price policy, particularly onsessions on direct elections, the part the Commission should play in theanization of the work of the Commission
SUNDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER Comblain La Tour and Brussels
A final session for three and a half hours, almost exclusively on personnel policy and the outside inquiry We drove back to Brussels via Villers-le-Temple A dinner party, rue de Praetere, for Christopher Soast others Christopher on boisterous forreat exciteian cook, who had worked for him She not only produced even better food than usual, but had her hair done specially
MONDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER Brussels
To the Ecofin Council hoping to discover, as we all were, exactly what had happened at the Franco-Ger at Aachen The ministers of both countries were reticent Healey made a fairly effective row about this, but eventually it eht ht (ie less Healey) were then prepared to agree upon the Belgian corid system for intervention, but with the 'basket', as it were in reserve behind it, providing the basis on which it could be decided as responsible for an imbalance and who should act to correct it
WEDNESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER Brussels
Haferkaendhat had referred to me the question of Madame van Hoof's27 visit to China as one of his party, and that I thought he would be unwise to press ahead with it However, I said that I would not veto it in the last resort28 At first he seeive way but said he would talk about it with her and with Deno but I have little doubt he will be frightened by her into agreeing
THURSDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER Brussels
Lunch at hoes Berthoin, the previous representative of the Community in London and the new Chairly interesting, though slightly disturbing He is very worried about the Giscard initiative If they got rid of the political role of the Coo by default, he said It is essential this should be the starting point, even if national governments subsequently whittle it away so will e deals He is also worried that no governht hard for the Coreat defender of the previous systeood deal of sense in what he says and he put it very well
It also ereat Commissions of the past were not all that powerful Hallstein, he thought, started the rot by having an extreed joust with de Gaulle which led to his defeat and decline; and that indeed way back in the traditionally great days of the Coal and Steel Coned because he felt he had lost control of the Commission
Then for yet another session with a coal Affairs Committee, presided over rather fruitily by Sir Derek Walker-Smith;29 quite an enjoyable encounter Home at 630 where Jennifer had Ken Galbraith for a drink I had not seen hihteenseventieth birthday and seemed as buoyant as ever
FRIDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER Brussels and East Hendred
An earlydiscussions with Denman and Renee van Hoof, particularly with Renee, and had decided she ought to go So I reluctantly approved this Jennifer and I then proceeded to otten to put o back to rue de Praetere and get it, believing that ays caught a plane in Brussels It was a ludicrous atte the Berlayot to the airport at 1232 and they refused to take us It was the first tiot away in rather bad order at 430, no first-class seats, no protocol -1 think they were rather fed up with us for being so late-and then had a very good journey, beautiful weather at London Airport, and we arrived at East Hendred less than two hours later I played croquet with Edward in a nificent sunset
MONDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER London and Brussels
To the Dorchester Hotel at 900 to address the opening session of the World Planning Conference It was quite a good, slightly futuristic speech, written partly by Stanley Johnson,31 about oil dependence and the possibilities of escaping fro World, etc Some rather anti-ood deal of attention, particularly on the BBC, and led to an exaggerated report that I had urged the abolition of the h it reverberated on for a bit
335 plane to Brussels and one and a half hour's interview there with Nick Stuart, Department of Education and Science and ex-Number 10 Private Secretary, as a possible replaceht and quick, although knowing practically no French, but eager to come, and I think on balance that he is the better candidate32 Rue de Praetere dinner party for the Lee Kuan Yeith Tickells, Brunners and the Singapore Ainning but then a highly enjoyable evening; we had eneral conversation with a lot of anecdotes about world politics