157. Memorandum of a Conversation, The White House, Washington, February 8, 1956, 11 a.m.1
SUBJECT
- Coal and Steel Community
PARTICIPANTS
- The President
- M. René Mayer, President of the High Authority for the European Coal and Steel Community
- Mr. Livingston Merchant, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs
- Ambassador W. Walton Butterworth, U.S. Representative to the European Coal and Steel Community
- Dr. Gabriel Hauge, Administrative Assistant to the President
The President received M. Mayer at 11:00 today at the White House. After the usual cordial exchange of greetings M. Mayer gave a favorable and optimistic account of the functioning of the European Coal and Steel Community, emphasizing that it had increasingly the support not only of parliamentarians but of labor. Labor appeared to count on the CSC to improve the standard of living more rapidly than in fact it would be able to. M. Mayer also touched on EURATOM, explained the present status of negotiations, and expressed the hope that these negotiations would come to fruition and thus permit the six participating countries to increase their energy resources [Page 409] which were needed now and would be needed even more in the future. He emphasized that the experience of the Coal and Steel Community proved that if the Europeans had the political will to unite, the way could be found to solve the related problems.
In touching on the political importance of the Community, M. Mayer pointed out that the reason these six countries could work unitedly was because the economies and the standard of living of all six countries, with the exception of southern Italy, were in about the same stage of development. However, southern Italy, which was in reality an underdeveloped area, did offer an opportunity to the industries of the Community in developing it and thus bringing into being a good new market.
The President reaffirmed his conviction as to the importance of a united Europe, indicating his belief that it would be the salvation both for Europe and the Western world. He emphasized that a united Europe consisting of 250 million-odd people, of whom at least 23 million were skilled workers, would create an industrial complex comparable to the United States, having, in fact, more skilled laborers than the U.S. He expressed his belief that such a “third force” working with the rest of the free world would change the whole complexion of present circumstances and insure peace.
In thanking M. Mayer for the friendly greetings which he had conveyed from his colleagues in the Community and from the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of France, whom M. Mayer had indicated were committed to working for the integration of Europe, the President asked him to convey to them his friendly greetings, to reiterate his profound convictions about the importance of the unification of Europe, and to tell them that we would do whatever we could to help. He added that of course the initiative must remain with the Europeans themselves.
(M. Mayer was obviously very pleased with his reception by the President, including the fact that the President posed for photographs with him at the end of his interview.)
- Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 653A. Confidential. Drafted by Butterworth. A draft version of this memorandum is ibid., Central Files, 850.33/2–1656.↩