ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that Europe's instability and the fear of communist disruption within Western-European societies was a much more important driving force for a renewed attempt to create a united Europe than has been recognized in the literature. It explains the importance of the United States as the economic inspiration for the Common Market. Anti-German sentiments in France and fears of a renewed German militarism had decisively undermined the pro-European consensus. German economic expansionism was to be absorbed in a European market governed by a supranational authority. The idea that larger markets and more competition would lead to higher productivity as the key to economic growth was particularly important in view of long-standing European traditions of protectionism. At the first Bilderberg conference, several participants had underlined the need for further European integration, and the final report had called for Europeans to "achieve a moral and material strength capable of meeting any threat to their freedom.".
