THE PROGRESS TOWARD WESTERN EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91T01172R000300310003-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 12, 2006
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: April 2, 1953
• Content Type: IM

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2 April 1953
OCI No. 3068 25X1
Copy No.
82
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
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NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AUTH H
DATE,'REVIEWER: 25X1
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CLASS. CHANGU_ L) To
DOCUMENT NO
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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THE PROGRESS IOWA WES ENN E ROPEAN INTEGRATION
American interest in Western European integration is based
largely on a desire to see the area strengthened against Soviet
aggression. Starting in 1948 with the Marshall Plan, in the
economic field, and the Brussels Pact, in the military, a num-
ber of organizations furthering integration have been estab-
lished or projected (see maps, p. 7).
Obstacles to a united Europe are, however, still very ser-
ious, as is illustrated by the current difficulties in obtain-
ing ratification of the European Defense Community treaty.
Longstanding mutual distrusts, reluctance to give up sovereign
powers or make other national sacrifices, and fear of antagon-
izing the Soviet Union have all been powerful deterrents.
So far, only six nations--Italy, France, West Germany, the
Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg--have shown a willingness
to give up any sovereignty for Western European integration.
Great Britain contends that its Commonwealth and Atlantic ties
preclude joining any European federation; the Scandinavian
countries do not like the absence of Britain, and Sweden addi-
tionally refuses to compromise its alliance-free foreign policy;
Switzerland maintains its traditional neutrality; the Spanish
and Portuguese governments distrust European integration, and
the former is politically unpalatable to most other European
countries.
Despite these obstacles, the so-called Community of Six,
or Little Europe, has already made marked progress. The mem-
ber countries are creating a common market in the recently es-
tablished Coal-Steel Community; they have signed, but not yet
ratified, a treaty for the formation of a European Defense
Community; and they are now considering a treaty to provide a
political umbrella for the economic and military communities,
a European Political Community (see organization charts, p. 8).
In the light of the deep-rooted economic, political, and
social difficulties in the way of effective European union,
over-all progress to date has been surprisingly good, and the
officials of the new European organizations are already ac-
quiring a prestige in national capitals that in itself is a
new internationalizing force. But little active interest has
developed among the populations concerned and there are no in-
dications of effective European union being accomplished soon.
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Even the past year's.a.chievements within the Community of Six
are being subjected to severe strains as the various national
parliaments begin to realize the price which must be paid for
these gains.
Economic Integration
The program for European economic cooperation was in-
tended initially to help overcome the dislocations caused by
the war, then to make Europe more self-supporting, and later,
also to provide a solid economic base for rearmament. The
first major step was the formation, in April 1948, of the
Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which
embraces all the Western European countries except Spain.
Besides helping to allocate American aid under the Marshall
Plan. and establishing the European Payments Union, the OEEC
has tried to strengthen the area's economy by such other meas-
ures as the elimination of import quotas, reduction of tariffs,
and increases in investments. It has also served, in some
ways, as a first step toward a loose confederation of the whole
of Western Europe.
By the spring of 1950, however, the limited progress
toward integration along these lines, coupled with West Ger-
many's rapid economic and political recovery, had convinced a
few French leaders that more drastic action was necessary.
The Schuman Plan, which was initiated by the French Government
mainly to reduce Germany's capacity for aggressive warfare,
called for-immediate and full integration in a basic sector of
the European economy through the creation of a common market
for coal and steel. This proposed a jump from discretionary
international cooperation to the creation of a supranationa.1
organization to which some, sovereign powers would be trans-
ferred. The plan was accepted only by six countries, and they
brought the Coal-Steel Community formally into being on 25
July 1952.
Despite modifications during the 1950-1951 negotiations,
the basic concept of the Schuman Plan remained unchanged. To
meet objections to the extensive powers of the plan's High
Authority, however, a council of ministers from the cabinets
of the member governments was formed to provide organic cooper-
ation between the Authority and the six national states.
The deliberative Assembly at Strasbourg, where the member
countries are represented on a proportional basis, can dismiss
members of the policy-making High Authority located at Luxem-
bourg. The Court of Justice, also at Luxembourg, is the final
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arbiter on all disputes, and the Consultative Committee of
producer, management and labor representatives advises on ques-
tions of production programs and readjustments facing indus-
tries and workers.
On 10 February 1953 the High Authority took the first con-
crete steps toward the establishment of a common market for
coal and iron ore, and similar steps concerning steel are due
to be taken in early May. Extensive powers over the coal and
steel industries of the community members have already been
transferred to the High Authority, and the six individual gov-
ernments have arranged to terminate all national regulation
over trade in coal, iron. ore, and scrap, particularly import
and export duties, quantitative restrictions and restrictions
on foreign exchange for the purchase of these materials.
Most of these national restrictions, however, are to be
abandoned only gradually over the five-year transition period,
and many observers fear that the numerous interim exceptions
will make the present plans finally unworkable. Many steel
producers oppose the treaty's anti-cartel features, and in
any event the execution of the treaty's provisions will tend
to clash with national interests for an indefinite period.
Furthermore, nonmember nations like Britain, Austria,
Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries have expressed
fears that the Coal-Steel Community's potentially discrimina-
tory features may hurt their economies. Britain maintains a
permanent representative at the High Authority largely to keep
informed, and Switzerland plans to do likewise.
Despite these difficulties, the Schuman Plan has already
stimulated similar approaches to European economic integration
in such fields as agriculture and transportation, as well as a
recent Dutch proposal for a free trade area in all of Western
Europe.
Military Integration
The European Defense Community treaty, which was signed
by the Little Europe nations in May 1952 but has still not
been ratified by any of the national parliaments, evolved from
the Pleven Plan put forward by France in 1950, largely to fore-
stall the creation of a new German national army. Various
factors, including the outbreak of the Korean war, had by then
convinced Western leaders that an early German military contri-
bution had become essential for the effective defense of
Western Europe.
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Earlier, the Brussels Pact, signed by Britain, France,
and the Benelux countries in March 1948, had established a
military alliance known as Western Union, which helped pave
the way for the North Atlantic Treaty of April 1949. The
Pleven Plan, however, went beyond the concept of military
collaboration and proposed an integrated European army under
a supranational authority similar to that proposed in the
Schuman Plan.
The treaty, as it emerged from the protracted negotia-
tions which began in February 1951, would set up for 50 years
a Defense Community with common institutions, an integrated
army with a common uniform, and a common budget. The basic
unit consists of 15,000 men of a single nationality--a figure
more than twice as large as that originally proposed by the
French but finally accepted by them as small enough to pre-
vent re-creation of a German general staff. A mutual assist-
ance agreement with NATO is provided for, and Britain has ex-
tended its Brussels Pact guarantees to include West Germany,
which is to remain subject to certain indirect restrictions
on its armament production and total military contribution.
A "Commissariat," like the Coal-Steel Community High Authority
answerable to an Assembly and Council of Ministers, is to head
the proposed community and handle relations with other interna-
tional organizations.
Current ratification difficulties, which are most serious
in France, are largely political. French leaders, in the face
of the recent surprising revival of German industrial strength,
have become increasingly convinced that the treaty terms under-
mine rather than reinforce their major objective of ensuring
French preponderance on the Continent. Furthermore, many mili-
tary critics doubt the workability of such a heterogeneous
army, and French military leaders consider that their country's
overseas commitments mean that its armed strength would be
dangerously split.
To meet these and other objections, French Premier Mayer
has proposed several "interpretative" protocols to the treaty,
and has also called for a "definition" of a Saar settlement
as a prerequisite to ratification. Representatives of. the
other EDC countries have now accepted the proposed protocols,
but little real progress has been made in French-German talks
on the Saar.
The French National Assembly is not expected to act on
the treaty until it reconvenes after its summer recess. In
Germany, the Bundestag ratified the treaty on 19 March, but
it still faces strong tests in the upper house and probably
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a court test on its constitutionality. In Italy, ultimate
ratification prospects are good, but Premier de Gasperi has
decided to postpone the parliamentary vote at least until
late summer. In the Netherlands the lower house of parlia-
ment is now expected to give its approval by early June, and
ratification in the other two Benelux countries is antici-
pated after the French position has been clarified.
Political Integration
One step toward a confederation of all of Western Europe
was taken with the establishment at Strasbourg in May 1949 of
the Council of Europe. Although this is a purely deliberative
organization, the fact that Britain is a member serves to com-
fort the smaller nations fearful of French or German domina-
tion, and also to reassure various groups, particularly the
Socialist parties, which seek to reduce Catholic preponderance
within Little Europe.
As the Coal-Steel Community and EDC plans came closer to
fruition, the Little Europe governments considered the problem
of raising an umbrella of political controls over the new
organizations, and in September 1952 authorized the Coal-Steel
Assembly to draft a constitution for a European Political Com-
munity. A few weeks ago the Assembly approved the draft pre-
pared by its ad hoc committee, and on 10 March turned over
copies of the proposed constitution to the six national govern-
ments for formal consideration.
If the present draft is finally adopted, the Community of
Six will begin to function within a single supranational frame-
work consisting of an executive, a parliament, and a court.
The European Executive Council, composed of a president and
his cabinet, will be checked by a council of national cabinet
ministers and assisted by an Economic and Social Council whose
composition and powers are yet to be defined. The parliament,
divided into a popularly elected Chamber of Peoples and a
Senate elected by the national parliaments, will have the power
to install and remove the executive.
At present, however, there is still wide disagreement
among the six governments both on granting to the proposed Po-
litical Community functions and powers beyond those already
assigned the Coal-Steel Community and EDC, and on the viabil-
ity of a political community based merely on Little Europe.
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STEPS TOWARD WEST EUROPEAN UNITY
2. 0 E E C - Organization for European Economic Cooperation
(European Marshall Plan Council) April 1948
4. Council. of Europe May 1949
5. Schuman Plan (Coal-Steel pool) July 1952
E D C - European Defense Community
(Signed but not ratified)
E PC - European Political Community (Proposed)
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
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EXISTING ORGANIZATIONS OF WEST EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
ORGANIZAT]:ON FOR EUROPEAN
ECONOMIC COOPERATION (OEEC)
EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE
7 members
COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS
14 Foreign Ministers from
member states
CONSULTATIVE
ASSEMBLY
132 members
/
HIGH AUTHORITY
9 members
* At present also serve on CE Committee of Ministers.
.Most at present also serve in CE Consultative Assembly,
IIIa
COAL-STEEL COMMUNITY (CSC)
HIGH AUTHORITY
9 members
CONSULTATIVE
COMMITTEE
51 members
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
8 Foreign Ministers from
member states.-
COMMON ASSEMBLY
78 members."
COURT OF JUSTICE
7 members
CONSULTATIVE
COMMITTEE
Si members
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
8 Ministers from
member states.
ASSEMBLY
87 for EDC
78 for CSC
COURT OF JUSTICE
7 members
COMMISSARIAT
9 members
COUNCIL OF
NATIONAL MINISTERS
6 Ministers from
member states.
LEGEND
INOMMENO Exercise of full control
Exercise of partial control
Flow of recommendations
------+ Liaison- submission of reports
Prospective
Additional Pools
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II III
COUNCIL OF EUROPE (CE) COMMUNITY OF SIX
COAL-STEEL COMMUNITY (CSC)