Editorial Note

At its meeting on January 21, the Steering Committee of the Paris Conference for the Establishment of a European Defense Community agreed that the Foreign Ministers of the six participating states should meet to resolve remaining outstanding problems facing the Conference. French Foreign Minister Schuman, Italian Foreign Minister De Gasperi, West German State Secretary Hallstein (representing Chancellor Adenauer who was unable to attend), Belgian Foreign Minister Van Zeeland, Netherlands Foreign Minister Stikker, and Luxembourg Foreign Minister Bech held three meetings on January 26 and 27 in Paris. During their meetings, the Ministers reached agreement on a number of important issues including the composition of the Commissariat which would be responsible for the forces of the member states, the form and authority of the Assembly of the Community, and the voting procedure in the Council of Ministers of the Community. The achievements of the Ministers were spelled out in some detail in a communiqué issued in Paris at the conclusion of the meetings; see Documents (R.I.I.A.) for 1952, page 74 or L’Année politique 1952, page 475 for the text of the communiqué. The proceedings of the meetings were reported upon in some detail to the Department of State by Ambassador Bruce in a series of seven telegrams from Paris (4536, [Page 595] January 28; 4539, January 28; 4551, January 29; 4537, January 29; 4538, January 29; 4540, January 29; 4541, January 29) all included in file 740.5. One of the major problems discussed during the meetings of the Ministers was the use of forces of the Community and the relationship between the Community and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. State Secretary Hallstein took the occasion to restate the unwillingness of the Federal Republic to join the Community unless it were also allowed to enter NATO or the Community were brought within NATO in some way. The Hallstein position and other aspects of this issue are examined in some detail in the Background Paper prepared in the Department of State, page 597.