233. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, April 4, 19571
SUBJECT
- Discussion with the President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community regarding CSC Matters, European integration, etc.
PARTICIPANTS
- The Under Secretary of State
- Mr. B.E.L. Timmons, Director, EUR/RA
- M. Rene Mayer, President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community
As arranged, M. Mayer called on the Under Secretary at 5 p.m. today.
M. Mayer expressed his pleasure at the opportunity to meet the Under Secretary and to discuss with him certain matters of mutual interest. The Under Secretary said that he had heard much of M. Mayer and the work of the High Authority, and was equally delighted to have this opportunity of meeting with M. Mayer.
M. Mayer spoke generally of the movement toward further European economic integration. He said that the Six are “taking hold again”, as shown by the fact that the EURATOM and Common Market treaties were successfully negotiated and were signed on March 25 in Rome. He reaffirmed his own deep personal conviction of the need to carry forward the creation of a genuine economic [Page 547] community in Western Europe. M. Mayer went on to speak of the work accomplished by the Coal and Steel Community, as demonstrated by the rapid expansion of steel output in the six countries, and the “transformation” of the coal industry. He said that the High Authority would be making a report on May 14 covering the progress made in the first four years of the Community’s existence.
Turning to the projected new communities, he said that with respect to the Common Market, he foresaw the need for the greatest patience and the closest cooperation between the authorities of the Community itself and the governments of the countries making up the Community. He remarked on the fact that there will have to be more frequent meetings of Ministers as they are given more power under the Common Market and EURATOM treaties than they have been with respect to the CSC. In this connection, he observed that two of the most important practical problems that arise in the operation of a community like the CSC are the difficulties imposed by language differences and the limited time Foreign Ministers can spend in discussing and deciding questions affecting the Community. He said he did not believe that deputies could fulfill this role. For example, the High Authority of the CSC does practically all of the necessary staff work in presenting questions to the Foreign Ministers. What falls to the Ministers is the task of making political decisions, and in this role there can be no substitute for the Ministers themselves. He ended his discussion of the Common Market by saying he has no doubt it will come into being and operate effectively.
Turning to EURATOM, M. Mayer said he believed that the provision for a Commission of five members was preferable to the nine-member High Authority of the CSC. He expressed the opinion that there will have to be close and direct contacts between the High Authority of the CSC and the Commissions of EURATOM and the Common Market.
He went on to say that he had been invited to attend the signing of the Common Market and EURATOM treaties in Rome on March 25 but unfortunately had not been able to attend because of the pressure of work in connection with the High Authority’s bond issue in the United States. He said that he had just learned that the Foreign Ministers of the Six had decided in Rome to ask the High Authority of the CSC to undertake a survey of how best to coordinate the policies of the six countries in the field of conventional energy—oil, coal, etc. EURATOM would of course be performing this same function in the field of atomic energy, and the cooperation of the two bodies would provide the means for coordinating the policies of the Six with respect to the entire field of energy. The Under Secretary remarked upon the rapid changes that are occurring in the economics of atomic power. M. Mayer agreed and said that of course [Page 548] the utilization of atomic energy as a source of electric power on a large scale would come much sooner in Europe because of its higher cost of power derived from conventional energy sources. Mr. Timmons inquired whether M. Mayer had yet formulated any broad ideas as to how the CSC study of conventional energy might be carried out. M. Mayer replied that this subject had not yet been discussed in the High Authority. He indicated that earlier there had been some reluctance on the part of the six governments to entrust such a study to the CSC. He went on to say that the CSC would probably wish to add to its staff some qualified experts for the purpose of making the conventional energy study, and that he anticipated it would take a considerable period of time to complete such a study. He added that he would hope to associate Switzerland and Austria with the study, and the U.K. as well. He referred in this connection to the useful work already done in this field by the OEEC.
The Under Secretary referred to M. Mayer’s discussion with Deputy Under Secretary Dillon April 22 and to the suggestion M. Mayer had made at that time that it might be well to hold the discussions on scrap exports from the U.S. to the CSC in two stages: first, a preliminary meeting in Luxembourg for two days prior to Easter, and then negotiations in Washington between representatives of the U.S. Government and the CSC. As M. Mayer had requested the Department had conveyed this suggestion through Ambassador Butterworth to the CSC High Authority.3 We have now received a reply from Ambassador Butterworth, the Under Secretary continued, and he was glad to advise M. Mayer that the latter’s colleagues on the High Authority fully approved the tentative plan that had been discussed. The High Authority had suggested that the pre-Easter meeting in Luxembourg take place on April 15 and 16 or April 16 and 17. The U.S. Government had also considered the matter and was prepared to send representatives to Luxembourg for the discussions M. Mayer suggested. Mr. Timmons said that we would be advising the High Authority through Ambassador Butterworth of the names of the U.S. representatives and the exact date on which we would be prepared to begin the talks, i.e. the 15th or 16th. M. Mayer expressed his appreciation for the very prompt response by the U.S. Government to his suggestion.
The Under Secretary then referred to the High Authority’s forthcoming bond issue in the United States. M. Mayer said that he [was] extremely satisfied with the work of the American investment houses handling the issue, and thought one of the useful by-products [Page 549] of the CSC loan in the U.S. would be a wider dissemination in the U.S. of information on the CSC and its financial operations.
In closing, M. Mayer said that he had seen the Secretary of State on April 3 and that among other subjects they had discussed the “reluctance” of the British to see a true common market, including the overseas territories of the six countries, come into being. M. Mayer said that he was surprised that the British were only now awakening to the fact that it was politically necessary to include the overseas territories of the six countries in the common market. He also remarked that neither France nor Italy could go into a common market that excluded agricultural products. He reverted to the prospects that such a common market would open up and said the result could be a “second commonwealth”, an association between Europe and Africa that would hold out great promise for the future of both these regions of the world. Finally, he said that he was sure that the U.S. Government appreciated the paramount political importance of not allowing any rift to develop in GATT between the Six countries and the other members of GATT. Such a rift could create a very deep division in the Atlantic community, and he hoped that the U.S. Government would indicate to the U.K. the political importance the U.S. attaches to the Common Market and to the necessity of avoiding any such division.