ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the longer-term issues of the politics of the European Community. First, Britain's entry is likely to cause a fundamental change in the power structure of the European Economic Community (EEC). The fact that there will be three major powers in the Community, France, Britain and Germany, instead of just two will make a profound difference to the way in which the whole operation is run in the future. The Community does not move forward by capturing power from the governments of national states and then transferring it to a separate European institution, but by exercising compulsion on the governments themselves to act together in new ways. It seems probable that the model underlying the scheme of the founding fathers of the Community was excessively influenced by the experiences of federations with which they were familiar from European and American history.
