Office of the Historian

840.00R/5–2550: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Embassy in France 1

secret   niact
Washington, May 25, 1950—7 p. m.

2404. Personal for Martin.2 Fol is preliminary Eur thinking on problem of implementing Four-Power communiqué on coop between Western Eur and North America on econ problems.3 We assume that next move will be for Brit and Fr to propose that the OEEC issue an invitation to Canada and US to estab the informal working relationship called for in the communiqué. It would be helpful to maintain the momentum achieved by the FM mtgs if this invitation could be issued by the OEEC Council at its forthcoming mtg June 2. It seems to us that the form of the invitation should be brief, should tie in with the text of the Four-Power communiqué, and should not attempt to go beyond the latter in spelling out the form and purposes of US and Canadian assoc with the OEEC.

2. We have also been considering in a very tentative way the problems which we will face after the invitation is issued and accepted. From the language of the communiqué we would judge that it is intended that the present activities of the OEEC and the US relationship thereto through OSR will continue more or less undisturbed and that the cooperative arrangements contemplated in the communiqué will be grafted on to the present setup. Substantively it seems logical to emphasize the problems which must be faced on a cooperative basis by the OEEC countries, the Canadians and ourselves in adjusting to the end of ERP in 1952. Procedurally we think it might be useful to consider the possibility of providing for mtgs of the Council, the exec comite (both ministerial and official) and certain of the most important comites in a form which would insure the US and Canada [Page 662] the right to participate as full members and not through invitation or in an observer status. Such participation would not have to be made formal by the amendment of the OEEC convention but could be established on the basis of informal agreement. When problems of primary Eur interest are under discussion these bodies would revert to the present form of operation, the Canadians might drop out and the US would resume its observer status. We do not think the Canadians will want to participate even as observers in the full range of present OEEC activities.

3. We hope you will have time to discuss foregoing with Harriman and Bruce before you leave.

Webb
  1. Repeated to London as 2531.↩
  2. Presumably Edwin M. Martin, Director, Office of European Regional Affairs.↩
  3. Communiqué issued at London, released to the press May 18, printed in Department of State Bulletin, May 29, 1950, p. 827.↩