No. 75
Editorial Note
During the Secretary’s Staff Meeting on July 29, Acheson stated that the general picture of the Schuman Plan Ministers meeting of the previous week looked discouraging. It was Monnet’s idea to take leadership in the Schuman Plan, but as yet no High Authority existed and the Schuman Plan seemed to be in a period of drift, which was “extremely bad” at this particular time. Bruce pointed out that the High Authority would be formed soon and that until it was formed, it was not possible to expect much more than the present state of hesitation and indecision. In Bruce’s opinion, what was discouraging was the possibility of European countries revising agreements reached at Lisbon. It had become apparent that the United States had asked the Europeans to do more than they were able to do, given the level of assistance Congress had allotted. (Notes of the Secretary’s Staff Meeting, July 29; Secretary’s Staff Meetings, lot 63 D 75, “July 1952”)