Office of the Historian

Bruce Mission files, lot 57 M 38, “CSC—U.S. Representation”

No. 89
Memorandum by the Deputy United States Representative to the Coal and Steel Community (Tomlinson) to the United States Special Representative in Europe (Draper)1

[Paris,] August 20, 1952.

Subject:

  • High Points of Conversation with CSC High Authority
1.
The members of the High Authority were very pleased that you are responsible for U.S. representation to the CSC institutions and that you are establishing a separate mission at the seat of the High Authority. They clearly attach great importance to having relations between the High Authority and the United States be entirely separate from our relations with the national governments.
2.
I told Monnet that you planned to keep the CSC Mission very small at the outset and to have it draw on SRE economic and industrial advisers when necessary. Pending the designation of the Chief of the CSC Mission, I would be Acting Chief. The High Authority thought such arrangements were very satisfactory. Monnet wants to discuss them further with you at your next meeting with him.
3.
Preparations are nearly completed for the first meeting of the CSC Council of Ministers on Sept. 2 or 3. Adenauer, who is to be Chairman for the first three months, circulated an agenda providing that the High Authority “report” on its activities to the Ministers for their comments or approval. The High Authority advised Adenauer that they would “inform” the Ministers of the High Authority’s activities, but that a “report” would violate the sovereignty of the CSC. Adenauer agreed, and revised his proposed agenda accordingly. Adenauer has also asked the six Ministers to discuss the proposal to have the CSC Assembly draft a Treaty for the European Political Community.
4.

The Council of Europe Secretariat claimed that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe instructed it to make preparations for the first CSC Assembly session on September 10. The High Authority held that the Ministers have no authority do do so under the Treaty and has had the preparations made itself.

I asked Monnet to make arrangements for us to observe at first session of Assembly. He agreed to do so.

5.
The High Authority has spent considerable time the first week to [in] pulling together a small staff. The quality so far is excellent. Etzel, the German Vice-President, has been under great pressure from Erhardt, Westrick and German industry to appoint immediately a long list of industry representatives. The High Authority intends to resist this strongly and to appoint industry experts, one by one, as the work develops. This will lead to considerable criticism, but Monnet insists the bureaucracy is to be kept as small as possible. It is difficult for Europeans to understand that High Authority is not supposed to administer the industries, but is more in the nature of a regulatory commission like the Federal Trade Commission, with industry running its own affairs. Monnet hopes he can obtain participation of industry primarily by the special committee device.
6.
The plans for the survey of conditions of industry are still very provisional. We may be able to get advance information next week. The High Authority has made arrangements with Marjolin and Myrdal to obtain information from OEEC and ECE and to have the secretariats of the two organizations work for them. The High Authority will have an observer with the OEEC Coal Committee.
7.
The High Authority is taking up its allocation powers in the next few days, but will not exercise them until the first quarter of 1953. Governments will be informed in order to permit termination of the allocation powers of the Ruhr Authority.
8.
The CSC staff has begun to draft papers on commercial policy negotiations with the U.S., the U.K., OEEC and GATT, but we are not likely to obtain much information until Spierenburg returns in about two weeks time. In any case, the Council must issue instructions to the High Authority on these questions so talks are required with the member governments. The High Authority will tend to be cautious in any advance talks with us.
9.
Monnet does not expect to get much beyond organizational relationships in his London talks. The British may wish to get into questions of commercial policy, markets, resources, prices, etc. at this stage. Monnet will probably encourage the British to handle coal exports to CSC in a way which will facilitate any allocation just as he has urged us to think of some way to do so, but except for this question he is probably only in a position to listen.
  1. Copies were also sent to Anderson, Merchant, Blum, and Breithut.↩