42. Message From Foreign Secretary Lloyd to Secretary of State Herter0
Dear Chris: YOU may be interested to have on a confidential basis my personal impression of my trip to Paris.1 I was warmly received, the press in general was approving, and the General, Debre and Couve were very friendly. I think both sides felt that the timing of the visit had been good, and that we must not only establish confidence in one another’s political outlook, but also let it be seen that it had been established. From what I have heard from Paris since my return I gather that the French have been very pleased by the atmosphere of the visit.
On political objectives in Europe, we agreed that we must keep the balance between the West and the U.S.S.R. and not countenance any disengagement or neutralisation plans which would weaken our position vis-à-vis the U.S.S.R. I was struck by the French fear of what would happen in Western Germany after Adenauer’s departure and their desire for speed in associating West Germany with other countries of Western Europe. I made it clear to them that from a political point of view we had always welcomed the Common Market, and that I welcomed steps to keep the Six together, such as the development of political consultation. I think that they were genuinely relieved to hear this and surprised that I should have said it so categorically. I did, however, say that all would be spoilt if these associations were exclusive, i.e. if the Six politically consulted among themselves and then refused to consult with Britain and their other allies; more use of W.E.U. was one way of doing that so far as Britain was concerned; but it should all be within the N.A.T.O. framework. I said that I was very ready for W.E.U. to go to Paris from London, so that the same British individual could represent us on W.E.U. and N.A.T.O. and so prevent any gap opening between the two. The French said that this would suit them but they did not want to offend the Belgians. The Belgians have reservations because they are very anxious to get the Six to go to Brussels and are afraid that a move of W.E.U. to Paris might prejudice this objective.
With regard to economic matters, the French said that the liberal trade policies of the Six, to which they were committed, should make arrangements between the Six and the other countries of Europe easier. We agreed however that a difficult problem still remained. I said that the Seven were a means to the end of keeping Western Europe liberal in [Page 113] its trade outlook, and we were conscious of the need to have regard to your position. On cooperation in arms production, we expressed good intentions but recognized the importance of your part in this and the possible significance of your having to diminish your help.
On disarmament, we expressed our anxiety about delay in your establishing your position, and our hope that when you have done so you would have a genuine consultation with us. We feared the public reaction to the failure of the Ten-Power Group to meet early in the New Year. (May I say that I hope you will soon be able to let us know how your thinking is progressing, and at least what, if any, is the area of doubt or disagreement.)
Deliberately I did not get involved in N.A.T.O. problems, but the mood was one of cooperation rather than finding and exploiting difficulties.
I therefore hope that the visit will have done some good, not only for Anglo-French relations but in a much wider context.
On Summitry, we did talk about dates and agenda, I emphasizing what I think is the United States/United Kingdom position, that the meeting should take place as soon as practicable after Mr. Khrushchev’s visit to France, without too rigid an agenda.2
With warm personal regards,
- Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence, Lot 66 D 204. Secret. Transmitted to Herter under cover of a brief note from Caccia, November 16.↩
- Lloyd visited Paris November 11–12.↩
- On November 16, representatives from the British and French Embassies also briefed the Department of State in more detail on Lloyd’s visit to Paris. Both agreed that the talks had gone well.(Memorandum of conversation, November 16; Department of State, Central Files, 033.4151/11–1659, and telegram 2078 to Paris, November 17; ibid., 033.4151/11–1759)↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩