ABSTRACT

All West European countries consider trade with the East a normal and even desirable aspect of the overall political East-West relationship. The West European pro-trade consensus has been a major element of convergence on export control issues. Europeans have shown themselves adamantly opposed to using Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM) as a foreign policy tool. Consensus can be found in West European disapproval of alleged American use of COCOM as a protectionist instrument. The unilateral United States (US) export control system has also been subject to West European criticism, especially US national reexports licensing, which has formed a subtle brake on intra-Western high-technology transfer. East-West trade is expected to generate peace dividends, which is why there is a general consensus within West Germany that COCOM rules should be considerably relaxed. Britain's security interests form the overriding element in its Ostpolitik, whereby London often finds itself on the same side as the United States.