45. Telegram From Secretary of State Rusk to the Department of State0
Paris, June 20, 1962,
11 p.m.
Secto 16. Brussels also for Embassy. Following based on uncleared Memorandum of Conversation.1
In meeting with FonMin Couve de Murville this afternoon, Secretary raised question of UK-EEC negotiations and future shape of Europe. He asked if UK-Common Market negotiations succeed how much effect French believed this would have on other problems we were discussing. Couve’s reply covered four points:
- 1)
- Will Britain join? In FonMin view only one real difficulty but this is formidable one—problem of Commonwealth. The Six say Britain [Page 109] must enter Common Market fully with appropriate transitional arrangements for Commonwealth but at end of given period Britain must be subject to same regime as partners. This meant Commonwealth preferences, as well as “habits” which had governed UK-Commonwealth trade in agricultural field, would have to disappear. British say ready sacrifice a lot in this area, but cannot abandon Commonwealth and need important exceptions. On balance, Couve said he believed Britain would go very far in direction of Six, and “probably we will come to an agreement”, though this was not certain. (At several other points during meeting when UK-EEC negotiations mentioned tangentially Couve carefully used in every case the same formula—Britain might join or might not join Common Market, but would probably join.)
- 2)
- Whether or not Britain joins Common Market, political development of Community would continue. If Britain joins, however, political arrangements would necessarily be looser. In Couve’s view, mere size of Community of nine or ten would make close political integration difficult. In this event, he foresaw development towards “loosely united confederation” tied together by strong economic ties and less solid political ones. Nature military arrangements in this case not clear. Couve referred in this connection to “idea which is being mentioned” of some nuclear role for Community, but did not express any opinion thereon.
- 3)
- If Britain does not join and Common Market survives resultant crisis (which FonMin believes it would if British were clearly responsible for breakdown), then Community might be expected develop closer unity in political and military field. In defense, smaller group countries would make task unification both easier and harder—easier because fewer countries involved, but considerably harder because of nuclear problem. Couve pointed out that would be much easier deal with nuclear problem on British-French-German basis than on French-German basis alone.
- 4)
- As to implications developing political unity for NATO, Couve believed this development did not change basis of alliance, but might affect its operation. If Europe more closely united, would modify “method of discussion” as well as organization of NATO. This process would, however, take a long time. Nevertheless, Couve referred to development already taking place of greater sense of solidarity among European countries, which he referred to as “growing European national feeling”, rather than “European nationalism”.
Rusk