Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, Germany and Austria, Volume II

740.00119 Control (Germany)/11–1748

Report by the Committee on Allied Controls to the Military Governors of the Western Zones of Occupation of Germany¹

confidential

[Frankfurt ?] 12 November 1948.

TOR/Sec(48)2

1. Organisation

The Committee on Allied Controls was designated at the meeting of the three Military Governors held on the 16th day of August 1948. The Committee held its organisation meeting at Frankfurt on the 9th day of October 1948.² The Committee’s Terms of Reference are attached hereto as Appendix C.

2. Summary of Committee Activity

Upon completing the detail of its organisation, the Committee immediately considered the following organisational matters of primary significance.

(a) Establishment of a Sub-Committee on the harmonisation of the US/UK/French Military Government legislation.

(b) Organisation of Allied Controls in the Laender.

(c) Consideration of the powers in the police field to be granted to the German Federal Government.

3. Sub-Committee on Harmonisation of Legislation

This Sub-Committee was organised by the Committee pursuant to the terms of an agreed US/UK/French paper (Appendix A³) as a Sub-Committee of the Committee on Allied Controls.

Its mission is to proceed with the harmonisation of all essential Military Government legislation, having first made a selection of fields wherein harmonisation is a matter of urgency such as Police, Press and Radio, Frontier Control, Property Control, etc.

The Sub-Committee has been instructed to prepare:

(a) a list of Military Government legislation which will remain in force and is therefore to be harmonised and codified, and

(b) a list of Military Government legislation which is considered incompatible with the Occupation Statute and is therefore to be abrogated,

and to report without delay a date by which it expects to complete the work.

Permanent members of the Working Party are as follows:—

US	UK	France
Mr. Samuel Kramer	Mr. Marreco	M. Lebegue
Mr. Lawrence de Neufville	Miss Thorneycroft	M. Becq

4. Organisation of Allied Controls in the Laender

The US and British members have placed a paper (Appendix B⁴) before the Committee, the substance of which is as follows:—

At each Regional Headquarters there shall be established a Tripartite Commission consisting of one representative of each of the Occupying Powers and reporting directly to the supreme tripartite authority for Germany. The Commission will deal with matters on which the Allies will exercise control over the Laender Governments after the issue of the Occupation Statute. In a Land occupied by the armed forces of only one Occupying Power, the Regional Commissioner (Land Director or Délégué Supérieur) representing that power shall be chairman. In a Land occupied by forces of two Occupying Powers, the Chairmanship will rotate between the representatives of those two powers.

The functions of the Tripartite Commission will be:

(a) To consider Land legislation and to conduct negotiations with the Land Government thereon as may be necessary or appropriate.

(b) To observe and ensure compliance on the part of the Land Government with the provisions of the Federal and Land Constitutions, the Occupation Statute and any pertinent Military Government legislation.

(c) To convey to the Land Government the instructions of the Military Security Board arid to ensure compliance therewith.

(d) To carry out any other instructions received from the three Military Governors.

The Commission shall act in an executive capacity only through its Chairman who will be responsible to his Zone Commander for ensuring the implementation of the functions of the Commission. The Regional Commissioner (Land Director or Délégué Supérieur) will also be responsible to his Zone Commander for the conduct of all relationships between the Occupying Forces and the civil authorities of the Land; for handling the executive work in connection with certain subjects reserved for unilateral administration under the Occupation Statute; and for observing, advising and assisting the Land Government in regard to the democratisation of political life, social relations and education.

Whilst not objecting to the proposals contained in the papers summarised above, the French Delegation considers that in the event of possible future territorial reorganisation it might be preferable to modify at Land level the powers envisaged in the present document which are to be granted to the Occupying Authorities.

5. Powers of Federal Government in the Police Field

The Committee has submitted a paper to the Military Governors covering this subject.⁵

6. Control Machinery for Austria

At the invitation of Lieutenant-General Geoffrey Keyes, the Committee and its staff visited Vienna, Austria, on 19–22 October 1948 to inspect the operation of Multipartite Allied Machinery vis-à-vis the Austrian Government. The Committee feels that this survey has been most useful in providing a practical example of the fact that minimum controls can be effective and that a practical and effective day-to-day working relationship is possible between a Control Authority and a Government.

7. Conclusion

The Committee does not consider that it can make further progress on the organisation of Allied Controls in the Laender until instructions have been received from the Military Governors on the point raised in paragraph 4 of this report.

The Committee intends to proceed with the organisation of Allied Controls at Federal level.

Annex “C”

Terms of Reference of the Committee on Allied Controls
confidential

[Frankfurt,] 21 October 1948.

TOR/P(48)1

Designation of Committee on Allied Controls

1. There is hereby established a Committee on Allied Controls consisting of:

1. M. Sabatier	France
2. Major-General N.C.D. Brownjohn	United Kingdom
3. J. Anthony Panuch	United States

2. The Committee shall formulate, and submit to the Military Governors for approval, such plans as may be necessary or appropriate for the re-organisation and/or realignment of the structure of Military Government on a tripartite basis, in the three Zones of Germany occupied respectively by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, in order to implement the provisions of the London Report.

3. The Committee’s recommendations shall include such plans as may be necessary for their implementation.

1. This source text was transmitted to the Department as an enclosure to a letter of November 17 from Ambassador Murphy to John D. Hickerson, not printed. The paper was circulated to the Military Governors as document TRIB/P(48)5, November 12 and was considered by the Military Governors at their meeting on November 16; see General Clay’s message CC–6781, November 18, infra.
2. The record of the first formal meeting of the Committee on Allied Controls is not printed.
3. The paper under reference here, document TOR/P(48)3, November 12, is not printed.
4. Not printed.
5. The document under reference here, TRIB/P(48)4, November 12, is not printed, but it is briefly described in General Clay’s message CC–6781, November 18, infra.