840.50 Recovery/9–1649
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
| Participants: | Secretary Acheson |
| Belgian Foreign Minister Van Zeeland | |
| The Belgian Ambassador1 | |
| Mr. MacArthur, WE2 |
After the usual exchange of amenities, Foreign Minister Van Zeeland opened the conversation by stating that he was glad to have the opportunity of talking over several questions with me. He wished first to touch upon the question of European economic coordination and integration which he felt was of vital importance to the maintenance of a democratic Europe. He said that over the course of the past year he had had conversations with Ambassador Harriman, Ambassador Kirk, Mr. Millard, and other American officials, and he had been very glad to note that Belgian and American views on the question of European integration appeared exactly parallel. Mr. Van Zeeland said that in his triple role as Belgian Foreign Minister, Temporary Chairman of OEEC, and a member of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, he would do his utmost to press forward to obtain greater acceptance by the Western European countries of the views shared by the United States and Belgium, particularly the necessity for liberalizing exchange controls and removing restrictions on and barriers to trade. He mentioned in this connection discussions which had been held between the Benelux Union, France, and Italy, and said that he was very glad that Belgium’s views on the possibility of the above countries taking some effective action coincided with his understanding of our point of view. He believed strongly that European economic integration was a matter of urgency and believed [Page 424] that the question should be brought up for serious discussion in a series of meetings which will occur in Europe in late October and early November when meetings of the OEEC, the Council of Europe, and the Brussels Pact Ministers are scheduled to occur. He made passing reference to the efforts of the Council of Europe in the direction of European political and economic integration and said that on the whole the recent Strasbourg meeting3 had turned out much more successfully than he had anticipated. Despite a number of differences of opinion evident there he felt that the Strasbourg meeting had demonstrated a surprising degree of European solidarity. Mr. Van Zeeland concluded by asking for my comment on the foregoing.
I replied that I shared completely his opinion that it was of vital importance that the European countries push forward to integrate Europe economically at the very earliest possible time. I said that I had stressed this very strongly in my conversations yesterday4 with French Foreign Minister Schuman and French Finance Minister Petsche and had told them there was not a moment to lose. I added that I had also concurred very heartily with Mr. Schuman’s and Mr. Petsche’s proposal that they initiate early conversations with the British and with Mr. Gutt, Director of the International Monetary Fund, with a view to working out arrangements to proceed rapidly with European economic integration.
I then went on to say that the United States Congress and a considerable body of American opinion had gathered the impression in the past few months that European economic cooperation was bogging down and the possibility of any effective European economic integration was becoming daily more remote. This had created very serious difficulties in obtaining Congressional approval of the ERP appropriations during the present session of Congress. It seemed clear that if the European countries did not move rapidly ahead there would certainly be considerably greater opposition and difficulties in Congress when the question of ERP appropriations came up next year.
Mr. Van Zeeland said that he fully shared my views and realized the difficulties which would result in any delay in European economic integration and said he wished to assure me that he would do his utmost, in the common interest of Europe and the United States, to hasten action in the right direction.