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Portugal Western Europe
At the beginning of the 1990s, Portugal's relations
with
Western Europe were closer than ever before. Historically,
Portugal had remained aloof from Europe, its main link to
the
continent being a long-standing alliance with Britain. In
1949
Portugal became a founding member of NATO, in 1955 it
joined the
United Nations (UN), in 1960 it became a part of the
European
Free Trade Association (EFTA), and the following year
joined the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD--see Glossary).
Portugal signed a free-trade agreement with the
European Economic Community
(EEC--see Glossary)
in 1972 and
gained admittance to the
Council of Europe (see Glossary)
in 1976. In 1988 Portugal became a member of the Western
European Union
(WEU--see Glossary).
Portugal's application to the EC in 1977 marked a major
change in its relationship with Europe. After years of
negotiations, it was granted admission on January 1, 1986.
Becoming part of EC affected not only the country's
economy but
also government and society
(see Foreign Economic Relations
, ch.
3). As the poorest member of the EC, Portugal would
receive large
grants from the EC bodies to bring the country's
infrastructure,
living conditions, and education up to the level of the
community's other members. The formation of the EC's
single
market in 1993 would be another step toward Portugal's
integration into Europe.
As a result of these and many other international ties,
traditional issues of whether Portugal would be First,
Second, or
Third World, socialist or capitalist, European or South
Atlanticist were no longer issues at the beginning of the
1990s.
Portugal had become part of the community of Western,
European,
democratic states. Nevertheless, Portuguese worried at
times
whether their country's identity might be lost in this
larger
community and whether its industry and commerce would be
able to
compete in the large tariff-free single market. Although
it had
prospered since it joined the EC in 1986, the real
economic
challenges would come in the 1990s.
EC membership had meant that Portugal had close
voluntary
relations with Spain for the first time in its history.
Until
then Portugal had maintained a wary distance from its
large
neighbor, although once, against its will, it had actually
been a
part of Spain for sixty years (1580-1640). For the most
part,
however, Portugal looked to its alliance with Britain for
support
in remaining independent. Although the Portuguese no
longer
believed that Spain posed a military threat, they were
concerned
that the stronger Spanish economy could gradually absorb
them.
After the revolution, relations between the two
countries
were tense at times. As a means of tempering disputes, a
treaty
of 1977 set up a Luso-Iberian Council to promote
cooperation. In
addition, the countries' prime ministers have held
occasional
summit meetings since 1983. The most serious disagreements
have
centered on the access of Spain's modern fishing fleet to
Portuguese waters. Spain won on this issue but made some
economic
concessions to Portugal in return.
Some of the tensions between Portugal and Spain during
the
1980s had a military origin, however. When Spain joined
NATO in
1982, the Portuguese feared that an Iberian Command would
be
created with the result that Portuguese forces would come
under
the control of Madrid. Portuguese objections to this
proposal
ended when Spain was included under the Supreme Allied
Commander
Europe (SACEUR). Portugal kept its long-standing role
under
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT)
(see Portugal and NATO
, ch. 5).
Portuguese ties with Britain, also an Atlantic power,
dated
from the signing in 1386 of the Treaty of Windsor, the
longestlasting alliance in the Western world. The two countries
had long
secured mutual benefits from this treaty. Portugal sought
British
protection against Spain and later France; Britain saw
Portugal
as its point of access on the European continent when
other
avenues were closed. This was the case at times during the
Napoleonic period and during World War II when Britain was
allowed to use the Azores for military purposes. Also
binding the
countries together was substantial British investment over
the
centuries, most notably in Portugal's wine and port
industries.
Portugal traditionally maintained good relations with
France,
mainly to balance Spain's power. Portugal also had strong
feelings of affinity with France, and French intellectual
trends
had a steady following in Lisbon. French influence was
seen in
the Portuguese legal system and administrative system.
Until
recently, when it was displaced by English, French was the
second
language of educated Portuguese. Many working-class
Portuguese
also had links with France. During the 1950s and 1960s,
some
three-quarters of a million Portuguese emigrated to that
country
in search of work.
Data as of January 1993
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