840.50 Recovery/7–1047: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
2757. To the Secretary and Lovett from Clayton. The Ambassador and I today continued with Jean Monnet and Couve de Murville the talks reported in Embtel 2725, July 9, 6 p. m., regarding the questions the French had raised concerning the Paris Conference on a European economic plan beginning July 12.
We placed emphasis on the following three points:
1—Any European report should include an analysis understandable to the man-in-the-street in the United States of reasons why European recovery has not progressed farther in spite of large sums already made available.
2—A sound production program designed progressively to put Europe on its feet within three or four years.
3—A program sketching in broad lines a type of European economic federation which would make economic sense and be designed to eliminate the small watertight compartments into which Europe’s pre-war and present economy is divided. I suggested that Europe’s case could [Page 318] be greatly strengthened if in this presentation they could actually agree to take at least one definite step in the direction of these objectives.
I am returning to Geneva this afternoon and have requested the Ambassador to keep the Department and me informed of all significant developments during the preliminary work of the conference. [Clayton]