Editorial Note
On September 10, 1953, Marinus van der Goes van Naters, Rapporteur of the Committee on General Affairs, Consultative Assembly, Council of Europe, handed to the United States Embassy at The Hague a copy of his report on the future position of the Saar which he also submitted to the General Affairs Committee. “The report was given to the Embassy by Mr. Van Der Goes in advance of its publication because of his belief in the importance of United States support for a European solution of the Saar problem.” The Committee subsequently authorized Van der Goes van Naters to prepare a summary for a press conference on September 14, 1953 at which time he explained [Page 804] his Saar solutions as follows: the Saar would become “European territory”, its foreign and defense policies placed in the hands of a European Commissioner who would be named by and held responsible to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers and would not be of French, German, or Saar nationality. The Commissioner would be advised by a Committee of Five to include a Frenchman and German. All international agreements signed by the Commissioner would be subject to approval by the Saar Landtag. In all other matters the Saar would be governed by a freely elected government. All previous economic agreements with France would be replaced by a single 50-year treaty of economic cooperation which would maintain a common market between France and the Saar until the creation of a single market area among the Schuman Plan countries. The French franc would remain the currency of the Saar until the creation of a single European currency; a common market with Germany would be established as soon as possible, and a cultural convention would guarantee maintenance of German culture and the German language in the Saar. A copy of his report was transmitted to the Department as the enclosure to despatch 292 from The Hague, September 10, 1953. (762.022/9–1053) For further documentation on the report, see volume VII.