Office of the Historian

396.1 LO/4–3050: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Douglas) to the Secretary of State

top secret
London, April 30, 1950—9 p. m.

Secto 57. From Jessup. Below is French proposal for a new body to be set up in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (reference: tripartite paper TRI/P/8, April 29, 1950):1

French Draft Proposal

1.
The Atlantic Council will meet as often as it is necessary to work out and to put into operation the programme of action of the signatory [Page 78] governments. With this in view each government will designate a deputy of its Minister of Foreign Affairs, who will be an official of high rank who would take part at Council meetings whenever these are called.
2.
The Council thus strengthened will establish a permanent executive organ which will act under their control and according to their instructions.
3.
The first task of the Council and of the permanent executive will be as follows:
(a)
To co-ordinate military and financial policies with regard to defence with a view to arranging, with the shortest possible delay and under the best conditions:
(I)
The establishment of a programme of modern armament;
(II)
The division of production between the industries of the participating countries; and
(III)
The division of costs;
(b)
To co-ordinate political action wtih regard to common defense problems;
(c)
To co-ordinate the information of public opinion in matters concerning the application of the pact.

Sent Department Secto 57, repeated Paris 693. [Jessup.]

Douglas
  1. This French proposal, identified as TRI/P/8, was circulated among the delegations at the tripartite talks in London on April 29 by the Secretary-General for those meetings, Charles A. E. Shuckburgh. Copies of the series of TRI/P papers are in the CFM Files, Lot M–88, Box 151, Foreign Ministers Meeting, London, May 1950, Documents TRI/P. Lot M–88 is a consolidated master collection of the records of conferences of Heads of State and Foreign Ministers meetings for the years 1943–1955 prepared by the Department of State Records Service Center. For documentation on the discussion of this subject in the tripartite talks, see pp. 828 ff.↩