Conference files, lot 59 D 95, CF 102
Following the opening meeting of the North Atlantic Council,2 Mr. Acheson spoke to Mr. Schuman and invited him to the residence for [Page 113] tea. He offered Mr. Schuman a chance for him to bring any of his people he wanted to, but indicated that it would be a very informal session. Mr. Schuman arrived alone.
The conversation was very pleasant, friendly, and amusing. There was no evidence of any feeling on Mr. Schuman’s part that he had been subjected to “rough treatment” in the last meeting in London. Most of the conversation is of no great interest, but a few points should be noted.
Mr. Schuman expressed his pleasure at the outcome of the London meetings. He said that he thought progress had been made. He repeated again several points which he has made in the meetings, such as the fact that France is the only country which would give up a national army under the European defense force arrangement. He spoke of the fact that time was required to solve all the problems involved.
Mr. Acheson asked him whether he had consulted his government on the outstanding issues which are unsettled, and mentioned particularly the question of security controls. Mr. Schuman’s reply was not a definite one. He implied that his government in Paris was working on the matter, but indicated he would talk to his Prime Minister, Mr. Faure, when he arrived in Lisbon tonight. The Secretary said that he would await word from Mr. Schuman as to when it was desirable to get together again, and Mr. Schuman replied that he would try to tell Mr. Acheson tomorrow, at the 11 o’clock meeting of the Council,3 when there should be subsequent meetings on these problems. Mr. Acheson said he was available at any time. Both the Secretary and Mr. Schuman agreed that it would be useful for meetings to continue here on the unresolved questions left over from London.
There was some interesting talk about the comparison of the European defense community to the Charlemagne Empire. Mr. Schuman replied that there was a body of opinion in France which considered the European defense force more nearly like the army of the Holy Roman Empire, and said that there was some fear that the force was being created under some sort of “Vatican” policy. Mr. Acheson said he had not known of this, and expressed great interest in it.
Mr. Schuman brought up the question of the guarantee against non-secession from the EDC. Mr. Acheson said that he had consulted the President by telegram, and the President was willing to do what he could.4 He said he thought that the President would send up a message to the Congress when the German arrangements went up, and that the message would refer to the actions of Congress on stationing of troops in Europe, on European integration, etc., and possibly ask for a reaffirmation [Page 114] of the wish of the Congress with regard to these matters. The message would also say that the arrangements with Germany were conditioned on Germany becoming a member of the European defense force, and would indicate that membership was expected to be a conditioned one, so that no interpolation could be given that Germany could join the force, then resign, and thus meet the condition in the setting up of the contractual arrangement. Mr. Schuman said that he thought that Mr. Adenauer had made a clear decision to stay with the West. He said that he had no fear that he personally would make any move to withdraw, because he thought his decision was a considered one and a firm one.
- The information set forth above is derived from the memorandum printed here.↩
- See Secto 25, above on this page, for a summary report.↩
- There was no North Atlantic Council meeting scheduled for 11 a.m. on Feb. 21. The Foreign Ministers were scheduled to meet at that time; see Secto 34, p. 120.↩
- Presumably the reference here is to Acheson’s message of Feb. 16 to President Truman, p. 78; regarding the President’s reply thereto, see footnote 4, p. 80.↩