190. Editorial Note
On December 21, the French, German, British, and U.S. Heads of State and Government, who had been meeting at Paris and Rambouillet since December 19, issued a special communiqué on the world economic situation. It asserted that Western Europe’s economic progress enabled nearly all of the industrialized nations of the free world to increase their efforts to further international economic development and to pursue trade policies promoting sound use of economic resources and international harmony, and noted that the Heads of State and Government had agreed to meet in Paris soon to discuss the means to reach these ends. For text, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1959, pages 576–577. Further documentation on this meeting is in Washington National Records Center, RG 59, Conference Files: FRC 83–0068, CF 1569–1570.
On January 7, 1960, John Leddy, Under Secretary Dillon’s Special Assistant, briefed the Council on Foreign Economic Policy on Dillon’s recent trip to Western Europe. (Regarding Dillon’s trip, see Document 116.) He stated Dillon had discussed increased free world participation in supplying emerging nations with development capital and informed the Council that the first meeting called for in the December 21 communiqué would be held in Paris January 12–13. It would examine “the procedural aspects involved in the formation of a new economic organization comprised of all of the Western industrialized nations including Japan” to consider economic problems. (Minutes of the 96th Meeting of the Council on Foreign Economic Policy; Eisenhower Library, CFEP Chairman Records, Papers Series, CFEP Minutes, 1960)
In the evening of January 7, President Eisenhower devoted a large part of his State of the Union address to international economic development. He spoke of the need to provide technical and investment assistance to lesser-developed countries and of international cooperation in working toward this goal. For text, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, pages 1–9.
Dillon left Washington for Paris on January 10. On January 12 and 13, he attended a meeting of the Special Economic Committee, consisting of representatives from 12 European nations, the United States, and the European Economic Community Commission; for text of his January 12 statement before the Committee, see ibid., pages 319–326. During this meeting, the representatives of Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the EEC Commission resolved: “to meet together to discuss various aspects of cooperation in their efforts, and to invite other additional capital exporting countries to participate in their work or to meet with them as may from time to time appear desirable, and to consult [Page 368] with such multilateral organizations as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank.” (Ibid., page 327)
On January 14, Dillon participated in a meeting of 20 members or associate governments of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation and in an OEEC Ministerial meeting. For text of his statement before the former, see Department of State Bulletin, February 1, 1960, page 145. The Under Secretary returned to Washington on January 16. Further documentation on his trip is in Washington National Records Center, RG 59, Conference Files: FRC 83–0068, CF 1579–1583.
Also on January 14, Eisenhower forwarded his report on the operation of the Mutual Security Program for the period January 1–June 30, 1959, to the Congress. In it he spoke again of emerging nations’ desire for economic progress and of the free world’s need to assist these efforts in order to ensure its own security. He also recommended longer-range funding for the Development Loan Fund and more flexible use of surplus agricultural commodities. Chapters I-IV of the report are in Department of State Bulletin, pages 159–169; for the complete text, see H. Doc. 299, Eighty-sixth Congress, Second Session.
In his January 18 budget message to the Congress, the President reiterated his calls for accelerated economic and technical assistance through the Development Loan Fund and increased private investment in lesser-developed countries, and noted the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s approval in principle of a proposal to establish an International Development Association. Excerpts of the President’s message are in Department of State Bulletin, February 8, 1960, pages 202–212; for complete text, see H. Doc. 255, Eighty-sixth Congress, Second Session. Eisenhower highlighted international economic development, private investment, the Development Loan Fund, and the International Development Association in his economic report, which he sent to the Congress January 20. For excerpts of the report, see Department of State Bulletin, February 22, 1960, pages 301–307; for complete text, see H. Doc. 268, Eighty-sixth Congress, Second Session.