Office of the Historian

740.00119 Council/3–448: Telegram

TJie Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Douglas) to the Secretary of State 1

secret
urgent
niact
London, March 4, 1948—midnight.

876. Delsec 1611. I. Wish to report status discussions Ruhr question.2 This message will cover points on which tentative agreement was reached at meeting of plenary session this afternoon.3 Should note that agreement in each case is subject to agreement on the whole and to satisfactory settlement of the security question vis-à-vis Germany. Separate message4 will discuss points still disagreed. Latter are to be subject of working party meeting tomorrow morning and of plenary session tomorrow afternoon at 3 p. m. Request that if you have any important comments on positions already agreed on, on US line on disagreed points, you communicate with us prior to 3 p. m. tomorrow, London time. Some changes are of course possible as result of tomorrow morning’s working party meeting.

II. The following are the agreed paragraphs, numbered in accordance with the report of the working party:

“Preamble. Whereas the security and economic recovery of the free countries of Europe require that the economic resources of the Ruhr shall not again be used for the purposes of aggression and that access to the coal, coke and steel of the Ruhr should not be in the future, as it was in the past, subject to the exclusive control of Germany and that access to them for the benefit of the economic life of the entire area embracing the free countries and Germany shall be without discrimination, and

“Whereas it is essential for the political and economic well-being of the free countries of Europe and a democratic Germany that there be the closest association of their economic life, and

“Whereas it is important that trade between the European countries mentioned in the preceding paragraph should be facilitated by lowering trade barriers or by any other means.

[Page 125]

“Therefore it is agreed that:

(1).
An international control shall be set up in the Ruhr as soon as possible and at least prior to the establishment of provisional German government or of an organization of a governmental character;
(2).
The International Control Agency shall be composed of representatives of the US, UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany;
(3).
The International Control Agency shall take its decisions by a majority vote. The US, UK, France and Germany shall have three votes each and the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg one vote each;
(4).
Until the occupying powers party to this agreement decide otherwise, the representative of Germany shall be designated and the vote for Germany exercised by those powers which share the responsibility for the economic administration of that part of Germany which includes the Ruhr, and in such a way as may be decided by those powers;
(6).
The International Control Agency shall have the right
  • “(A). To receive regular reports on production, distribution and consumption of Ruhr coal, coke and steel;
  • “(B). To demand relevant interim reports whenever necessary;
  • “(C). To verify the information at its disposal by visits on the spot or by the subpoena of witnesses.
(7).
During the period of exercise of supreme authority by the allied powers the occupying authorities concerned will maintain the extent of control over management of the Ruhr coal and coke industry at present exercised by the US/UK control group.
(9).
Should the German government not carry out the decisions of the International Control Agency, the International Control Agency may, by a majority vote of the allied representatives, find that the German government is in default on its obligations, and recommend the application of such enforcement measures as are necessary to ensure the attainment of the objectives set out in this agreement. During the period of the exercise of supreme authority by the allied powers the responsibility for the execution for such measures will lie with the occupation authority concerned. In the subsequent period enforcement of such measures shall be in accordance with the terms of any German settlement.
(11).
This agreement represents a statement of principles which, if approved by the participating governments, shall be elaborated into a detailed charter for the International Control Agency.”

III. The US representative in connection with the last clause of paragraph 4 of the agreement placed in the record that any decision reached by the powers responsible for the economic administration of that part of Germany which includes the Ruhr must be in accordance with such agreements as may exist at the time, defining the respective responsibility in the area of the governments concerned.

IV. Paragraph 11 given above is not the precise agreed text since [Page 126] at this afternoon’s meeting there was only agreement in principle to the idea contained in the paragraph.

Sent Department 876; repeated USPolAd Berlin 48, Paris 87.

Douglas
  1. The source text bears the following marginal notation: “J[acob] D B[eam] telephoned London 3/5/48 11:45 a. m. not to make any commitment on this and not to include in communiqué”↩
  2. The London Conference on Germany first considered the question of the Ruhr (Item C of the Conference agenda) at its 3rd and 4th Meetings, February 26 and 27: for the reports on those meetings, see telegrams 744, Delsec 1582, February 26 and 774, Delsec 1587, February 27, both from London. At the conclusion of the 4th Meeting, it was decided to appoint a Working Party (consisting of Samuel Reber for the United States, Patrick Dean for the United Kingdom, and Hervé Alphand for France) to prepare a report on the problem of the establishment of an international regime for the mining and steel industries of the Ruhr. After holding six meetings, the Working Party prepared a preliminary report, designated TRI/5, March 4. It is this report which is under consideration in this and the next following telegram.↩
  3. This was the 9th Meeting of the London Conference.↩
  4. Telegram 875, Delsec 1612, infra.↩