Europe Wants to Have Its Say

President Bush no doubt intends to honor custom by briefing the European allies after he meets with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev on Dec. 2-3. That’s not enough. Why not get the Europeans’ perspective before he holds talks on issues that affect them so fundamentally? As Saturday night’s meeting in Paris of the 12 Economic Community heads of government so clearly showed, Western Europe does not plan to sit back and passively respond to developing events in Eastern Europe but expects to have a major policy-setting voice.

This is hardly too much to ask. The claims and concerns of the Western Europeans deserve to be taken seriously. It is, after all, their continent, their security, their future that is most directly involved. Informing the Europeans about any superpower agreements after the fact is no substitute for full consultations beforehand.

The unanimity that emerged from the Paris meeting over the weekend was no less impressive than the substance of what was agreed to. The EC, as France’s President Francois Mitterrand summed up, is ready “to contribute with all our means to the establishment of a sane economy” in those countries that are struggling to crawl out from under the wreckage of Marxist planning and stifling state controls. But the essential precondition to aid for Eastern Europe must be a “verified return to democracy,” with all that this implies about respect for human rights and a free and pluralistic political system.

The EC also agreed--with West Germany concurring--that the changes now taking place must not lead to any revision of Europe’s post-World War II borders. For the time being, this ought to dampen speculation about early German reunification. It also ought to provide further reassurance of the high value that Western European leaders place on maintaining stability during a time of rapid and radical change. If Bush and Gorbachev can match the level of thoughtful responsibility evidenced in Paris last weekend, all Europeans should gain.