Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Western Europe and Canada, Volume VI, Part 1

740.00/5–1553: Telegram

No. 167
The United States Representative to the European Coal and Steel Community (Bruce) to the Department of State¹

secret
priority

Paris, May 15, 1953—7 p.m.

Coled 74. 1. Meeting of 6 Foreign Ministers on EPC² was unexpected success. Adenauer and De Gasperi very pleased at progress. They attribute success to improvement Bidault’s attitude since Strasbourg meeting in March.³

2. Ministers decided that review of treaty should be entrusted to inter-governmental conference (of Foreign Ministers or their deputies) in Rome, June 12–30, and that De Gasperi as President should report on results of conference to 6 Foreign Ministers at The Hague July 11. This compromise was proposed by Bidault after lengthy discussion in which Van Zeeland and Benelux colleagues held out for full-scale diplomatic conference with no time-limit. Solution fully acceptable to supporters of present draft, who had feared indefinite delay in bringing project under consideration.

3. Role of parliamentarians in future work not settled. Ministers received on May 13 Von Brentano and leading members ad hoc assembly, who made impressive presentation. Proposal was made to associate assembly representatives in some manner with government work on statute. Van Zeeland, however, played down assembly’s role and objected strongly to recognition of its continued existence after March 10. Final communiqué⁴ ducked issue but there was general agreement some way should be found to use experience of principal authors of draft statute.

4. Question of other observers also raised by Van Zeeland’s proposal to invite representatives of other Council of Europe member countries to participate in Rome meeting. Ministers finally agreed to admit Secretary General Council Europe as observer, with matter other observers to be settled at Rome conference itself.⁵

5. EPC supporters particularly pleased that communiqué contains first outright commitment 6 Foreign Ministers to creation of “European political community”. Until now, only clear commitment was to create new institutions for EDC under Article 38 EDC Treaty.

Bidault joined Adenauer and De Gasperi in emphatic support of directly-elected assembly. Only Beyen took strong position on opposite side. Even Dutch objections were mostly technical and left distinct impression of readiness to compromise. Economic powers were briefly discussed on basis new Beyen paper of May 5; this and other questions of substance were held over for more detailed handling at June conference.

6. Although 5 Ministers were ready to sign EDC protocols, they deferred action at Adenauer’s request until after Bundesrat action.

Bruce

1. Repeated to Bonn, Rome, The Hague, Brussels, and Luxembourg.
2. The Foreign Ministers of the six Schuman Plan countries met in Paris May 12–13. A more detailed report of these meetings was transmitted to the Department of State in despatch Coled D–60 from Paris, May 28. (740.00/5–2853)
3. For information concerning this Mar. 9 meeting in Strasbourg, see Document 162.
4. For the text of the final communiqué, see Documents (R.I.I.A.) for 1953, pp. 220–221.
5. In telegram Coled 77 from Paris, May 19, Bruce pointed out that the question of foreign observers at the Rome conference would not be settled until the delegations convened in Rome on June 12 and that it was possible that the United States would not be invited to have an official representation. Bruce recommended that Stanley Cleveland be stationed in Rome on a full-time basis to report unofficially on these sessions, while Bruce would be available part of the time for consultation on an unaccredited basis because this was the desire of several participating countries. (740.00/5–1953)