Office of the Historian

740.5/1–2153: Telegram

The Ambassador in France (Dunn) to the Department of State 1

secret
Paris, January 21, 1953—3 p.m.

4053. Re Polto 1194, January 20.2 Subject is European Defense Community.

1.
De Staercke in conversation with Ambassador Draper and Tomlinson appeared to understand French intentions much better than his Italian and German colleagues. See Embtels 4031 and 4032, January 19.3 He indicated that Belgian, Italian, Dutch and Luxembourg [Page 706] EDC delegations had discussed question thoroughly. They had all agreed to recommend to their governments that they be permitted to reach agreement with French on protocols requested on following assumptions:
(a)
Protocols would be really interpretive and fully consistent with spirit and intent of EDC treaty. Language of EDC treaty should not be changed. De Staercke expected question of Article 134 to be particularly difficult.
(b)
Each country would continue with its parliamentary process on ratification while protocols being negotiated.
(c)
EDC interim commission would be convened for sole and express purpose of negotiating protocols and of facilitating ratification. Each delegation would be expected to be completely open and frank in discussing its situation. Any protocols or understandings necessary for ratification in a particular country would be obtained now and not later.
(d)
Session should be limited to three or four weeks. Goal should be to complete ratification in all countries in April.
(e)
Any protocols agreed upon should apply without discrimination to all EDC countries in comparable position.
2.
De Staercke urged that the United States should press all countries in every appropriate way to adhere to above schedule. In particular, he hoped we would make our views known in Brussels as soon as we had sufficient information on French intentions.
Dunn
  1. Repeated to London, Bonn, Rome, Brussels, The Hague, and Luxembourg.↩
  2. Not printed; it reported that Spaak had informed Draper that he and a number of his fellow Belgian Socialists would fight any effort to vote down the EDC Treaty within the Socialist Party. It also reported that De Staercke had been pressing Van Zeeland to move for a quick ratification by Belgium and that Van Zeeland was continuing to demand a common length of military service before agreeing to ratification. (740.5/1–2053)↩
  3. Telegram 4031 is summarized in footnote 5. p. 704. Telegram 4032, not printed, reported that Von Kessel, the Deputy Chief of the German Delegation in the EDC Interim Committee, expressed greater optimism than some in the Committee regarding the proposed French protocols, but nonetheless foresaw possible serious difficulties on some of the questions the French had raised. In reviewing the French proposals, Von Kessel had stated that the French should present all they desired at once; that he recognized the need to satisfy French wishes to some extent with regard to Article 13; that he attached little importance to the weighted-vote issue; that the French were contradictory in their proposals with regard to integrity of French forces; that the extension of privileged French status of forces in Germany beyond June 30, 1953 would raise great difficulties, but that the Federal Republic would hope to find some way to help. (740.5/1–1953)↩
  4. Right of withdrawal of forces.↩