"No One Is Astonished"

In the 5th Century the Huns destroyed Strasbourg, but the city rose again until it became part of the Holy Roman Empire--the first and only European union. Since then, the single, jagged spire of Strasbourg's red stone cathedral has seen the tides of war sweep back & forth across the Alsatian plain. This week Strasbourg became the center of a great if still uncertain move to revive the dream of European union. In the central hall of Strasbourg's university, delegates from ten European countries assembled in the first session of the Council of Europe.

The Council, created last winter by Britain, France and the Benelux countries, is headed by a Committee of Ministers (the Foreign Ministers of the ten founding nations) on which each member votes according to his nation's policy. The Consultative Assembly, however, is a revolutionary departure: its 87 members* represent political groups inside their countries (excluding Communists), are supposed to act as Europeans; thus, a Winston Churchill could team up with the champions of capitalist democracy from other countries, a Herbert Morrison with Socialists. But the Consultative Assembly's agenda is controlled by the Committee of Ministers. The limitation was imposed by the British, who believe that union can only be built step by step.

In their elaborate efforts to provide a worthy council hall, the French finally abandoned their plan of installing a marble copy of the Medici Venus directly above the speaker's rostrum. Explained French Architect Bernard Monnet: "It would have shocked the British." Instead of Venus, he chose a discreetly robed Minerva. That was perhaps symbolic. The Council would not succeed through love; if it accomplished anything, it would do so in the ways of Minerva, a hardheaded and practical woman.

As the Council embarked on its task this week (probable agenda items: a European passport, a declaration of human rights), France's Georges Bidault made a significant point: "In other times this event would have been received as revolutionary. It is a sign of the new times that it appears so natural to public opinion today that no one is astonished."

* Belgium 6, Denmark 4, France 18, Ireland 4, Italy 18, Luxembourg 3, The Netherlands 6, Norway 4, Sweden 6, United Kingdom 18. Greece and Turkey were invited to join this week; Western Germany may join too.

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