United Europe: What, Who, When : EUROPOWER; The Essential Guide to Europe’s Economic Transformation in 1992 <i> By Nicholas Colchester and David Buchan (Times Books/Random House: $22.50; 256 pp., illustrated) </i>

During the early 1980s, France, Germany, England and the other nine members of the European Community--what Americans often call the Common Market--finally negotiated common noise levels for lawn mowers. The idea was that manufacturers in one country should be able to sell their wares throughout the region without hassle. It took six years of bureaucratic wrangling to reach agreement.

Since 1987, these same countries have committed by 1992 to harmonize their respective laws on trade, travel, transport, construction services, government purchasing and banking. They have set their near-term sites on substituting a single European currency for francs, lire, pounds and marks--and on creating a European Central Bank to manage the whole show. They have even scheduled a summit for this December to discuss political union.

Are we seeing a basic transformation of the Old World into a United States of Europe, a new fountain of political ideas and industrial energy, and a powerful rival to the United States and Japan? Or is this the same old Common Market, just combining a temporary burst of vitality with some clever public relations, more flash than substance?

In “Europower,” two of Europe’s most influential journalists--Nicholas Colchester, deputy editor of the Economist, and David Buchan, Brussels correspondent of the Financial Times--have concluded that something truly historic is taking place across the Atlantic. Call it a triumph of cooperation over centuries of animosities; call it a kind of supranationalism that eventually will become necessary for more countries in the global economy; call it what you like--real change is occurring, they say, and the continent will never be the same again.

“Europower” masterfully illustrates the practical obstacles that must be overcome before the European Community can realize its aspirations. For example, the authors describe the progress that has been made in lowering customs barriers, but they also point out that even if commerce cannot be stopped at the borders, other obstacles can be just as frustrating, such as different systems in each country for taxing or different standards for health and safety.

They show that even though the Common Market can decree that European banks are free to set up shop throughout the continent and conduct all the business they would at home, at the same time local customs and ordinances still can clip the wings of foreign financial institutions. They demonstrate how the ideal of free travel within the Common Market leads to problems in apprehending drug dealers, terrorists and money launderers. They illustrate the far-reaching nature of what has become European law, but admit how difficult it often is to enforce.

A second theme of “Europower” is the debate over “deepening” the community versus “widening” it. There are those who want to confine the evolution of the Common Market to its current 12 members--at least for the next several years--and to concentrate on deepening integration among the existing core group. To proponents of this approach, the overwhelming priority is to complete the process of integration to remove all existing barriers to trade, to create a single currency and a single central bank, and to build a system for common political management.

But not everyone agrees. Others want to broaden the community to include new members like Norway, Sweden, Poland and Hungary. They understand that bringing in nations with such diverse traditions and needs would slow the pace of integration, but it’s a price they are willing to pay (or, if they are skeptical of too much integration, it’s a price they are happy to pay).

Colchester and Buchan also highlight the arguments taking place over the political accountability which big, supranational European institutions--such as a new European Central Bank--would have to national parliaments. This is perhaps the single biggest philosophical issue facing West European leaders. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for one, is appalled by the notion that interest rates and taxes in Birmingham or Brighton could be decided in Brussels or Frankfurt without the advice and consent of locally elected British officials who are responsible to grass-roots constituencies.

Finally, the authors explain the details of the entire program called “Europe of 1992.” They provide an easily understood road map of the Community’s political and economic institutions and how they work. And they manage to cover every important area of policy endeavor, including money, trade, immigration, anti-trust, law and defense industries.

“Europower” seems to have been written primarily for a European audience, mainly to explain what’s going on. Americans could use this information, too. But aside from digesting the facts, how should we feel about a United Europe of one sort or another?

Certainly we are all for measures that give our friends and allies a better life, and we should be happy about economic and social links that make an intra-European war ever more remote. In addition, an American might well admire Europe for the remarkable momentum it has generated, starting from a stagnant position in the mid-1980s. We might be a bit envious about the political exhilaration and unbridled optimism across the Atlantic, at a time when we are mired in debts, deficits, banking scandals, soaring crime and deteriorating schools.

Beyond all this, however, additional concerns might be warranted. A united Europe may be a big market for IBM, General Motors and AT&T;, but it is sure to make European firms more competitive in everything from aerospace to insurance. We might be happy that Europe is strong enough to look after itself, but as a new, powerful political entity the Community is sure to be more independent of Washington, whether the issue is currency alignment or support in the Middle East. A unified Europe will be a house for a reunified Germany, much to the relief of those with even passing knowledge of the past 100 years. But how long will it be before Berlin controls the keys?

Colchester and Buchan do not directly examine these issues. Between the lines, however, it is not hard for an American reader to find them.

BOOKMARK: For an excerpt from “Europower: The Essential Guide to Europe’s Economic Transformation in 1992,” see the Opinion section, Page 2.