Editorial Note
From the conclusion of the North Atlantic Council meeting at Lisbon on February 25 to the signing of the European Defense Treaty at Paris on May 27, the twin issues of a European Defense Community and Contractual Relations between the United States, United Kingdom, and France on the one hand, and the Federal Republic of Germany on the other, were inseparably linked. As the communiqué issued at the close of the tripartite and quadripartite meetings of the Foreign Ministers at London which preceded the Lisbon meeting stated, “The Four Ministers welcome the progress made towards the conclusion of the Treaty for the establishment of the European Defense Community which will provide a solid foundation for the agreements to be concluded between the three Western Powers and the Federal Republic of Germany. This Treaty and the agreements will constitute a single structure designed to bring about the association of the Federal Republic with the free world and to solidify the defence of Western Europe.” The communiqué, dated January 19, is printed in full on page 106.
Throughout March, April, and May, discussions were held at Bonn between officials of the Federal Republic and the Allied High Commissioners’ Offices looking toward final completion of the Contractual Arrangements, and these discussions are frequently alluded to in the documentation in this compilation. Documentation on the completion of the Contractual Arrangements is in volume VII. Documentation on the tripartite and quadripartite meetings of the Foreign Ministers of the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany at London, February 13 to 19 and on the Ninth Session of the North Atlantic Council at Lisbon, February 20 to 25 is on pages 36 ff. and 107 ff., respectively.
Meanwhile, the Conference for the Organization of a European Defense Community continued to function during and following the Lisbon Conference. The Juridical, Armaments, Military, and Finance Committees as well as the Planning Group continued their work in frequent sessions considering drafts and transmitting texts of various treaty and protocol articles and passages still in dispute through the Conference Secretariat to the various delegations. The Steering Committee of the Conference resumed meeting on March 6 and held at least two further meetings through March 16. Thereafter, there are no official records in Department of State files of further meetings, though it is evident from documentation in the following pages and from file 740.5 that it met regularly as late as the second week in May. Department of State files also indicate that the Juridical, Armaments, and Finance Committees had completed their work by the end of April. [Page 619] The Military Committee was active as late as May 13, and the Planning Group continued to meet at least through May 23.
The Conference of Foreign Ministers of the European Defense Community met at Paris, May 19 to 21, 1952 and reconvened at Strasbourg on May 23 to consider the drafts of various articles and proposals still in dispute. No minutes of these meetings have been found in Department of State files, but records of actions taken or deferred are available.
Official records of the above Committees, Secretariat, and Foreign Ministers’ actions at the Conference for the Organization of a European Defense Community are in the Paris Embassy files, lot 57 M 44, Mr. Cleveland’s Working files–EDC, in the following folders: CM/Del/CR, EA–D/N, CM/GP/SEC, CM/GP/GT, EA Financial Documents, EA Financial Minutes, CM/DEL D–Military Delegates Committee. The records are entirely in French.