230. Letter From the Secretary of State to Foreign Minister Spaak1
Dear Mr. Minister: Admiral Strauss and I have been highly gratified by the results of the meetings on February 18th and 19th which resulted in basic agreement by the Six Nations in the EURATOM Treaty, as well as the Treaty on the Common Market. The decision taken at the meetings to vest the Community with authority to own special nuclear material establishes the foundation for effective control over the development of atomic energy.
The Department and the Atomic Energy Commission welcomed your invitation of February 11th to review the preliminary draft of the EURATOM Treaty in order to consider whether provisions of the draft would raise difficulties for eventual cooperative arrangements between EURATOM and the United States. Unfortunately, it was not possible for the two agencies to complete the necessary staff analysis and provide you with specific comments prior to your meeting with the heads of state and Foreign Ministers. I can now say on behalf of this Government, however, that we see nothing in the preliminary draft of the Treaty made available to us which would appear to preclude the subsequent negotiation of a fruitful cooperative arrangement between the United States and EURATOM.
Your visit to the United States last month and that of the “Wise Men” were especially helpful in identifying for this Government the imperatives which have led to the development of the EURATOM concept and now to broad agreement by the Six Nations in the draft Treaty. I believe that the small technical group which the Atomic Energy Commission will send to Luxembourg at the invitation of the “Wise Men” to be available for consultation in developing their report will be helpful. It is the first step in what we believe will be a [Page 544] close and mutually beneficial association between the United States and the proposed European Atomic Energy Community.
Yours sincerely,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 840.1901/3–2257. Confidential; Niact. This letter was transmitted for delivery to Spaak in telegram 1336 to Brussels, with the following instructions: “In presenting following letter to Minister Spaak advise him that CDA requirements of uranium ore are under review and that separate answer concerning his questions in regard this subject including the related provisions of the U.S.-Belgian bilateral agreement will be forthcoming soonest.” This telegram was repeated for information to London, Paris, Rome, Bonn, The Hague, and Luxembourg (for Butterworth and the Embassy).↩