840.50/2–2145: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Winant )
1463. Be Embassy’s 1790, February 21.47 For Hawkins. Department has no information as to whether French would agree to proceed with EEC and ECO conversations without Soviet attendance.
Department did not intend to discuss with British in Washington the U.K. memorandum48 on ECO in view of Department’s feeling that any detailed discussions in Washington would embarrass the conduct of discussions in London by Hawkins.
With regard to membership, Department’s suggestion that members be restricted at the present time to Western European Allies was based partly on difficulties which would result from attempt to include Polish representative or neutrals (see Department’s 10129, December 249), partly on fact that transportation between Western Europe and other parts of the continent is extremely restricted and [Page 1422] partly on Department’s view that there would be more chance of successfully setting up an effective mechanism if a modest goal were sought. If and when conditions warranted, representatives of areas other than Western Europe might be included if the more limited objectives suggested by the Department had been achieved.
Embassy will note that last paragraph of Department’s 578 of January 2650 suggested as a possible topic of discussion the establishing of a committee for Southeastern Europe. Also refer to Department’s 393 to Moscow, repeated to London as 1383.51
The Department desires to re-emphasize its dislike of economic regionalism. If the need for an organization like EEC continues into the period when it is practicable to extend its scope to include all continental Europe, the Department would prefer such extension rather than the maintenance of two or more regional groups.
- Not printed.↩
- Presumably the British paper of December 2, 1944, on coal; for text, see Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. ii, p. 631.↩
- ibid., p. 633.↩
- Not printed.↩
- February 22, 1945; not printed.↩