Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XXXVII, Energy Crisis, 1974–1980

50. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in France¹

Washington, March 29, 1975, 2003Z.

71725. Subject: Letter From Secretary Kissinger to Minister Sauvagnargues.

1. Please pass the following message from Secretary Kissinger to Minister Sauvagnargues.

2. Begin text. Dear Mr. Minister: In President Giscard d’Estaing’s letter to President Ford of February 28, 1975,² France extended an invitation to the United States to attend a preparatory meeting in Paris beginning on April 7 to organize an international conference on energy.

During our meeting at Martinique in December, we agreed that a formal conference with the oil producing nations and developing countries will be necessary and that it should be carefully prepared. In this regard, we were in agreement that a preparatory meeting should take place only after the oil consuming industrialized countries had made substantial progress toward cooperation in energy related financial matters, energy conservation and the development of new energy supplies.

Satisfactory progress in the first two of these three areas was achieved in January and February. At its meeting of March 20, 1975 the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency agreed on the principles and elements of a coordinated system of cooperation in the development of new supplies.³

Certain elements of that system—notably a minimum protected price for imported oil—may fall within the competence of the European Community, and I understand that their application will be discussed between France and the other members of the Community, participants in the IEA, in the near future.

As you know, Mr. Minister, our representatives have held several discussions of the concepts of the new IEA alternative supplies policies. From these discussions, we have formed the hypothesis that France is not hostile in principle to these concepts. On the basis of that hypothesis the United States is of the opinion that the first stage of the sequence agreed at Martinique has now been completed.

Therefore, Mr. Minister, I am pleased to accept your invitation to attend the preparatory meeting beginning on April 7. I understand that you intend the meeting to confine itself rigorously to procedural matters. That is a correct approach, in my view, which US representatives are instructed strongly to support. We very much desire a successful meeting, and the United States delegation will be prepared to work actively to that end. I agree that the problems which the international community now faces in the area of energy require our most urgent attention and close cooperation.

After the preparatory meeting, we can use Martinique’s Phase III—intensive consultation on consumer positions—to determine the way in which alternative sources policy and other consumer positions should be implemented.

With warm regards, Henry A. Kissinger. End text.

Kissinger

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files, D750111–0616. Confidential; Priority. Drafted by Enders, cleared by Preeg and Sonnenfeldt, and approved by Kissinger.
2. See footnote 3, Document 45.
3. See Document 48.