Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 42. (1992)
NAUTZ, Jürgen: Österreichische Überlegungen zur wirtschaftlichen Integration Europas und zum europäischen Machtgleichgewicht. Die wirtschaftspolitischen Arbeiten Richard Schüllers im amerikanischen Exil 1943–1950
EDITION Danubian Free Trade without Customs-Union The governments of the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States of America declared at Moscow that they “wish to see reestablished a free and independent Austria and thereby to open the way for the Austrian people themselves, as well as those neighboring States which will be faced with similar problems, to find that political and economic security which is the only basis for lasting peace”. This declaration urges Austria and her neighbors to cooperate in order to restore the political and economic security which was lost when Austria-Hungary was broken up. Every time this problem is discussed, the plan of a Danubian customs-union turns up. Attempts at such a union are bound to fail because its operation presupposes a political Danubian federation which the Russian Government bans and which the Danubian countries, at the same time, are neither willing nor able to achieve. A common government and a common parliament are necessary for the construction of a common tariff and trade negotiations. Therefore, customs unions have been achieved only in connection with political unity. When a political unit was dissolved, the customs union broke down. That happened when Sweden and Norway were seperated, and after the first world war when Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Baltic countries are not ready to renounce their independence and to form a political unit, their customs-union cannot be achieved. Therefore, another method must be applied in order to accomplish the economic cooperation recommended by the Moscow declaration. Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary could agree to established Free Trade without customs-union between their countries. Under such a scheme every partner has his own tariff and decides on changes of his customs duties, which are applied to commodities imported from other countries, and he negotiates and concludes trade agreements independently. This scheme aliminates the political difficulties inherent in a customs-union, as no common parliament and no common government machinery is necessary. But the economic problems are similar to those connected with a customs union, as Austria and Czechoslovakia are obliged to protect their farmers; and Hungary, though primarily interested in finding favorable markets for her agricultural products, cannot renounce her industries. Up to 1918 the three countries were parts of the Austria-Hungarian customs-union, and goods were flowing freely within the union. But 352
