Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, European Security and the German Question, Volume III, Part 1

Paris Embassy files, 400 European Army

Interim Report of the Delegations to the Conference for the Organization of a European Defense Community to the Participating Governments¹

top secret

Paris, July 24, 1951.

Preamble²

The Delegations of the countries participating in the Conference for the Organization of European Defense Forces, which opened at Paris on January 26, 1951, herewith submit to their Governments a joint interim report on the results that have so far been achieved in the accomplishment of their mission.

The views set down in this interim report are those which were expressed by the Delegations in the course of the work of the Conference, and they do not commit the governments themselves. The governments remain free to modify in whole or in part the agreements reached at the conference.

There are annexed to the present document a note on the origin and organization of the conference, and a list of members of the Delegations, both those that participated actively and those that attended as observers.

Chapter I

objectives and general principles

1. The five Delegations of the participating Governments agreed to incorporate certain objectives and general principles in the Treaty on the Creation of a European Defense Community, particularly the following:

(a) The final aim is the fusion, under joint supranational institutions, of the armed forces of the participating countries with a view to assuring the defense of Europe on a permanent basis and to guaranteeing the peace against all threats, whether present or future. The forces necessary for the defense of the overseas territories of the participating countries would be excluded, as would be police troops.

(b) The moral strength and the European character of these defense forces will be guaranteed by as complete an integration as possible consistent with military requirements of the human and material elements that are gathered under the single European political and military authority.

(c) This integration must in no way reduce the efficiency and combat effectiveness of the forces of the West, hut should on the contrary enhance them, without involving any delay in the implementation of Atlantic military plans.

(d) The institution of a Defense Community of the free peoples of Europe represents an essential step on the road towards European unification.

(e) The treaty will involve no discrimination whatever among the member states.

(f) The European Defense Community will have at its disposal certain resources in order to meet the common expenditures. Those resources will come chiefly from the contributions by the member states, which will be allocated equitably among them.

The European Forces will have a common supply system, and there will also be established a common armament program. In the long run, the costs which are involved for the member states in the organization of a common defense might certainly be less burdensome for the economy of each than would be the costs resulting from a defense effort organized within a purely national framework. As a matter of fact the standardization of arms and the specialization of armament production would make possible a better and more economical utilization of the resources of the participating countries. Moreover, the provisions of the treaty should be drafted in such a way that the European defense effort does not jeopardize the social progress that has been realized by the member states or to which they aspire.

(g) In all respects, and notably with respect to economic and armament matters, the European Defense Community will work in close cooperation with the nations of the free world, and in particular with those of the Atlantic Community.

2. The Conference considers it necessary, moreover, to emphasize that this enterprise has a purely peaceful character. On the military side, it has no other objective than to assure the defense of Europe against any aggression. Pooling the interests of peoples which have until now been opposed to each other, constitutes a guarantee for all that nationalistic considerations with all their dangers will disappear and will give way to the collective will of the European Community. This conception in no way does away with national patriotisms, but rather superimposes upon them a larger European patriotism.

3. Relations between the European Defense Community and NATO In view of the threats which weigh at present upon the world, the conference recommends that all the command functions and other functions relating to the employment of the European Forces be assumed by the Supreme Atlantic Commander from the moment the European Forces are created. In particular, the Supreme Commander would have all the powers necessary to organize and deploy the European units to the extent that the military situation might require it.

In line with the above, the Conference considers that the establishment and functioning of the European Defense Community should be assured in close liaison with the appropriate organs of NATO and, with respect to matters within its military competence, in accordance with its directives. In view of the need to establish effective forces for the common defense as quickly as possible, liaison between the European Community and NATO is of special necessity in the following fields:

• —organization and training of the forces,
• —establishment of equipment programs,
• —external aid,
• —production problems,
• —deployment of European units by country and area.

A more precise definition of the relations between the European Defense Community and NATO requires detailed discussions with the competent Atlantic organs. These discussions should begin as soon as possible in order that the contribution of all the member states to western defense may be brought about with the least possible delay, thanks to their participation in the European Defense Community.

The Conference calls attention, moreover, to the fact that the recommendations made to the Governments in the military field ought to be examined jointly with SHAPE before they are adopted, in order that the views of the Supreme Commander may be duly taken into consideration.

4. Transitional Period

The forces furnished by the participating countries will be European from the beginning in the sense that they will be immediately placed under the authority of the European Defense Community. It would, however, be necessary to have a convention separate from the Treaty creating the European Defense Community. That Convention would cover the transitional period while the political and military institutions are being created. During that transitional period, the Defense Community would hold all the powers and responsibilities that it would later exercise but would be unable to assume them completely because of the time-lag before the organizations envisaged in the treaty are physically created. The institutions would thus be created from the beginning, but their functioning during this transitional period would be subject to special rules which are described in Chapter VI of the present report.

[Here follow Chapter II—Institutions, Chapter III—Military Questions, Chapter IV—Financial Questions, Chapter V—General Provisions, and Chapter VI—Transitional Provisions, comprising 40 of the 49 pages of the source text.]

conclusions

33. According to this provisional report, the delegations feel that, despite the difficulties inherent to the creation of a European Defense Community—because of the present structure of Europe—essential progress has already been made in view of attaining this objective.

While a large degree of agreement has been reached, important questions have not yet been settled and their solution will require new effort.

Aware of the necessity to create, without further delay, a European force sufficiently powerful to contribute to the discouragement of any aggressive intentions, the Conference submits this temporary report to the interested Governments and requests their instructions.

At the same time, the Conference will continue its work, especially within technical committees charged with preparing texts which are necessary to set up the Organization, and hope that these studies will be carried on in close contact with the Supreme Atlantic Commander and, if possible, with his assistance.

1. The source text, an informal translation prepared in the Embassy in Paris, was transmitted to the Department of State as an enclosure to despatch 236, July 27, from Paris, not printed. The French-language original of this Interim Report comprised 29 pages together with a 4-page annex on the origin and organization of the Conference. The translation comprised 49 pages, and the annex was not included therein. This Interim Report was formally approved by the Conference at its plenary meeting on July 24, reported upon in telegram 542, July 25, from Paris, infra. For a summary comparison of the major points of agreement and disagreement in the Interim Report, see William T. Nunley’s paper of August 24, p. 862.
2. In the source text, this preamble is preceded by a brief table of contents.