Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Western European Security, Volume V, Part 2

Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 392

Protocol on the Termination of the Occupation Regime in the Federal Republic of Germany¹

confidential

Paris, October 21, 1954.

The United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the French Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany agree as follows:

Article 1

The Convention on Relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany, the Convention on the Rights and Obligations of Foreign Forces and their Members in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Finance Convention, the Convention on the Settlement of Matters arising out of the War and the Occupation, signed at Bonn on 26 May 1952,² the Protocol signed at Bonn on 27 June 1952 to correct certain textual errors in the aforementioned Conventions, and the Agreement on the Tax Treatment of the Forces and their Members signed at Bonn on 26 May 1952, as amended by the Protocol signed at Bonn on 26 July 1952, shall be amended in accordance with the five Schedules to the present Protocol³ and as so amended shall enter into force (together with subsidiary documents agreed by the Signatory States relating to any of the aforementioned instruments) simultaneously with it.

Article 2

Pending the entry into force of the arrangements for the German Defence Contribution, the following provisions shall apply:

(1) The rights heretofore held or exercised by the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the French Republic relating to the fields of disarmament and demilitarisation shall be retained and exercised by them, and nothing in any of the instruments mentioned in Article 1 of the present Protocol shall authorise the enactment, amendment, repeal or deprivation of effect of legislation or, subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this Article, executive action in those fields by any other authority.

(2) On the entry into force of the present Protocol, the Military Security Board shall be abolished (without prejudice to the validity of any action or decisions taken by it) and the controls in the fields of disarmament and demilitarisation shall thereafter be applied by a Joint Four-Power Organization to which each of the Signatory States shall appoint one representative and which shall take its decisions by majority vote of the four members.

(3) The Governments of the Signatory States will conclude an administrative agreement which shall provide, in conformity with the provisions of this Article, for the establishment of the Joint Four-Power Commission and its staff and for the organization of its work.

Article 3

(1) The present Protocol shall be ratified or approved by the Signatory States in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures. The Instruments of Ratification or Approval shall be deposited by the Signatory States with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

(2) The present Protocol and subsidiary documents relating to it agreed between the Signatory States shall enter into force upon the deposit by all the Signatory States of the Instruments of Ratification of Approval as provided in paragraph 1 of this Article.

(3) The present Protocol shall be deposited in the Archives of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, which will furnish each Signatory State with certified copies thereof and notify each State of the date of entry into force of the present Protocol.

In faith whereof the undersigned Representatives duly authorized thereto have signed the present Protocol.⁴

Done at Paris this ————— day of October, 1954, in three texts, in the English, French and German languages, all being equally authentic.

1. According to a covering note by Secretary General Ismay attached to the source text, this protocol, which was circulated as document C–M (54)91, was approved by the Four-Power Conference during its third meeting on Oct. 22 and was placed on the agenda of the Nine-Power Conference and the North Atlantic Council Ministerial Meeting for information; regarding the third meeting of the Four-Power Conference, see p. 1421.
2. Documentation concerning these Conventions and Protocols signed at Bonn on May 26, is presented in volume vii .
3. The five Schedules attached to the source text, not printed, are as follows: Schedule I—Amendments to the Convention on Relations between the Three Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany; Schedule II—Amendments to the Convention on the Rights and Obligations of Foreign Forces and their Members in the Federal Republic of Germany; Schedule III—Amendments to the Finance Convention; Schedule IV—Amendments to the Convention on the Settlement of Matters Arising out of the War and the Occupation; and Schedule V—Amendments to the Agreement on the Tax Treatment of the Forces and their Members. The texts of these Schedules are printed in 6 UST (pt. 4) 4117.
4. During the ceremonies in Paris on Oct. 23, the source text was signed by John Foster Dulles, Anthony Eden, Pierre Mendès-France, and Konrad Adenauer.