HL Deb 28 February 1952 vol 175 cc392-401

4.50 p.m.

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF READING)

My Lords, I would ask leave of the House to communicate to your Lordships a Statement which has just been made in another place by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on the subject of his recent negotiations. The word "I" in the context refers, of course, to my right honourable friend. The Statement is as follows:

"The House will wish to have some account of the meeting of the North Atlantic Council which took place in Lisbon between the 20th and 26th February, and of the talks on Germany in London and Lisbon before and during the Council's session. We were faced with the need to find solutions to a number of important problems, all closely related one with the other. These included the establishment of contractual relations with Germany, Germany's contribution to defence through the European Defence Community, and the relationship of the European Defence Community to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, They also included the co-ordination of defence plans, the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the promotion of closer co-operation among member countries in fields other than defence.

GERMANY:

"Two sets of critical negotiations regarding Germany's future have been proceeding concurrently. First, talks in Paris designed to set up a European Defence Community in which Germany could contribute her share to Western defence: secondly, negotiations in Germany to establish a new relationship between the three Western Occupying Powers and the German Federal Republic which will then be making its contribution to Western defence as an equal member of the European Defence Community. A fortnight ago, although work both in Paris and in Germany was well advanced, the outcome of the related discussions was in jeopardy. The debates in Bonn and Paris suggested that the whole prospect of a German contribution might be endangered in France and in Germany.

"Neither we, nor the United States Government, are direct participants in the European Defence Community Conference, but I invited Mr. Acheson and M. Schuman to meet me in London to see how far we could improve matters. Our purpose was to eliminate difficulties which had arisen in the negotiations in Bonn and Paris. After we had met among ourselves, we invited Dr. Adenauer to join us. As the London communiqué showed, we were all agreed that these London talks had succeeded beyond our expectations and should greatly assist our work in Lisbon.

"When Mr. Acheson, M. Schuman and I reached Lisbon, in accordance with our normal practice we told the Benelux Foreign Ministers of the progress we had made. I then reported on behalf of the three Powers to the North Atlantic Council on the contractual negotiations. Our N.A.T.O. colleagues unanimously welcomed the remarkable improvement in the situation that had taken place. The European atmosphere, heavily charged a fortnight ago, had been lightened, and the way was clear for concrete agreements.

"On two major questions—the German financial contribution to defence and security safeguards, agreement was still lacking. After long months of negotiation, we knew how intractable both these issues were and how hard it was to devise solutions which met the essential requirements of the three Western Allies and of the German Federal Republic. However, M. Schuman, Mr. Acheson and I were able in Lisbon to make progress far beyond our hopes. We were in constant touch with the Federal Government, through the Allied High Commission in Germany, and we learned on Tuesday afternoon that the German Federal Government had agreed that it would base its defence contribution, in the N.A.T.O. year ending in June, 1953, on the figure of 11.25 milliard Deutschemarks recommended by the Executive Bureau of the Temporary Council Committee.

"This will mean a monthly German payment of 850 million Deutschemarks, which will cover the local costs of Allied troops stationed in Germany as well as Germany's initial contribution to the European Defence Community. In addition, Germany will have to meet certain N.A.T.O. type expenditure, including defence costs, in Berlin, totalling about 1 milliard Deutschemarks. It was also agreed that in future years the total German defence contribution will be determined under the same principles as apply to all countries participating in the European Defence Community.

"I need hardly remind the House at this time that finance is the key to most of our problems. I regard the agreement on Germany's financial contribution to defence reached in these intensive talks in London, Lisbon and Bonn in the past fortnight as a major step not only to the strengthening of Western Defence but also in the establishment of a new Europe.

"We had important talks also in London and Lisbon on the question of security safeguards. Here, too, we reached agreement among ourselves which will, we hope, prove to be an acceptable basis for a very early solution of this difficult issue. Until final settlement has been reached in the negotiations in Bonn and also in the European Defence Community negotiations in Paris, I am not in a position to reveal details to the House. But I can say that the broad conception of the scheme is that the six European Defence Community Powers will themselves jointly agree where orders for all military material shall be placed and where they shall not be placed. Here a decisive consideration will be whether a particular European Defence Community country is in an exposed area from the strategic and geographical point of view. I would only add that arrangements will be made to ensure that all these safeguards will also cover the interests of this country and the United States of America.

"There will then remain the detailed task of completing the drafting of these contractual arrangements, which will be a very bulky series of documents. We hope to do this in a few weeks, during which the European Defence Community in Paris will also be putting the finishing touches to its treaty. Both these vital documents will then be signed together and we shall, I trust, be on the threshold of a new and more hopeful period in Europe.

"I should like to conclude this part of my statement by saying how much I, as the most recent participant in these varied negotiations, have appreciated the helpful and constructive approach to our common problems of Mr. Acheson and M. Schuman and of the German Federal Chancellor, Dr. Adenauer. I should also like to record our debt to the indefatigable endeavours of the three Allied High Commissioners in Germany.

"To turn now to the Paris talks on the European Defence Community, the House will be aware that discussions on this topic have been taking place for a year between the six Continental Powers concerned, including Germany. These Powers were able to send to the North Atlantic Council at Lisbon a report which shows that they are agreed on the main principles that will govern the European Defence Community. The N.A.T.O. agencies examined this report in Lisbon and concluded that the Paris plan would provide an acceptable method, both from the military, and the political point of view, by which Germany can contribute to the defence of the West.

"In the light of this conclusion the Council were able to go on to consider the next step—that is, the establishment of the necessary relations between the European Defence Community and N.A.T.O. itself. As I have already indicated on a previous occasion, the difficulty here springs from the fact that, while both organisations are designed to strengthen the defence of the North Atlantic area, five of the prospective members of the European Defence Community are members of N.A.T.O. as well, but the sixth—Germany—is not. The Council decided that it was essential that all members of the European Defence Community and N.A.T.O. should be reciprocally bound by the obligations laid down in the North Atlantic Treaty. They therefore agreed to extend these obligations to cover the European Defence Community by the addition of a Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty. This Protocol will be signed when the European Defence Community Treaty itself is signed, with clauses providing for similar obligations on the part of the European Defence Community towards the N.A.T.O. Powers.

"It was further agreed at Lisbon that there should be consultation between the North Atlantic Council and the Council of the European Defence Community whenever either considered this desirable. It was also agreed that there should be an obligation to consult whenever any one of the countries concerned considers that the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of them, or the continued existence or integrity of N.A.T.O. or the European Defence Community is threatened. Other arrangements have been made to ensure that there is close liaison at all levels between the two bodies. This seems to me a sensible and practical solution of what a few weeks ago appeared to be a highly controversial issue.

"Whilst in Lisbon, M. Schuman, Mr. Acheson and I also discussed the situation created by the Soviet Government's continued frustration of the Austrian people's hopes for a State Treaty with the Four Powers which would end the present occupation of their country. The Soviet Government have insisted that entirely irrelevant issues, such as Trieste should first be discussed, and latterly they refused even to attend a meeting of the Deputies which we endeavoured to arrange for 21st January. Mr. Acheson, M. Schuman and I therefore decided to issue to-day a joint declaration, which I shall not read to the House because of its length, but which I am making available."

(It will also be available to your Lordships.)

"From this declaration honourable Members will see that we are urgently examining new proposals whereby the Four Powers may be enabled to fulfil at an early date their pledge made in the Moscow Declaration of 1943 to restore to Austria her full freedom and independence.

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ON POLITICAL MATTERS:

"The meeting of the North Atlantic Council enabled me to exchange views with my colleagues, outside as well as in the Council chamber, on problems of foreign policy of mutual interest. As I have previously told the House, I value these exchanges and hope that through them we can develop the sense of an 'Atlantic' approach to international problems.

GREECE AND TURKEY:

"When its session opened the Council welcomed two new members to the Organisation, the Kingdom of Greece and the Republic of Turkey. The Council decided that the Greek and Turkish land and air forces assigned to N.A.T.O. will operate under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, through Admiral Carney, Commander-in-Chief, Southern Europe. The naval forces of the two countries will remain for the present under their national Chiefs of Staff, operating in close co-ordination with other naval forces in the Mediterranean, pending the solution of the wider problem of command in that sea.

CO-ORDINATION OF N.A.T.O. DEFENCE PLANS.

REPORT OF THE TEMPORARY COUNCIL COMMITTEE:

"The Council considered the Report of its Temporary Committee, which was set up at Ottawa last September. This Committee had the unprecedented peace-time task of developing a plan of action reconciling the military requirements put forward by the Chiefs of Staff of the countries in the North Atlantic Alliance with the economic and political capabilities of the member countries. During these discussions I pointed out at the Council that the capacity of the United Kingdom to carry out the Temporary Committee's recommendations depends on a number of economic factors which are not wholly or even largely within our our control. This fact, indeed, is specifically mentioned in the Committee's Report.

INFRASTRUCTURE:

"The Council also reached agreement on steps to carry out a further large instalment of infrastructure, that is, airfields, communications and headquarters, in Western Europe, and decided how to share the costs between member states.

REORGANISATION OF N.A.T.O.

"The progress of the work of N.A.T.O. from the stage of planning to fulfilment requires an adjustment of the structure of the Organisation, so that swift decisions can be obtained from member Governments The Council accordingly agreed that in future not only would it hold meetings of Ministers from time to time, but that the Deputies would be replaced by representatives who would constitute the Council in permanent session. To ensure that its decisions are quickly fulfilled, the Council decided to appoint a Secretary-General with wide powers. Unfortunately Sir Oliver Franks, whom the Council decided unanimously to invite to take this position, could not see his way to accept the invitation.

"We had also to discuss the question of where the headquarters of the Organisation should be. N.A.T.O. has been hampered in its work for a long time by the dispersion of its civilian agencies over more than one capital. This has made it difficult to co-ordinate the work of these agencies and to maintain the necessary contact with other international organisations. The Council ultimately decided that the only solution was to concentrate the civilian activities of the Organisation in the vicinity of Paris where the other principal international agencies concerned are already situated.

ATLANTIC DECLARATION.

"The House will have gathered from this statement that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is entering a new phase of its work. I thought it appropriate therefore to propose that the opportunity should be taken to reaffirm publicly the aims of the Organisation and to stress once more that the partnership of the members exists not only for defence but also for continuing effort in every sphere and for an enduring association between them. This suggestion met with the approval of the Council and the House will have seen the declaration which the Council issued from Lisbon at the end of the meeting. I am sure that the House will share my satisfaction that we were able to reach agreement in London and Lisbon on the solution of so many difficult and sometimes seemingly intractable problems. These meetings established a good basis for future progress towards our objectives, which have been and remain an adequate defence of the North Atlantic area, the inclusion of a democratic Germany on a basis of equality in a European Community, and the development of the wider Atlantic Association. I was also deeply impressed by the readiness of the statesmen of France and Germany to come together and seek solutions of age-long problems. This should encourage us all for the future. It is one of the many elements in a continually developing European situation which encourages me to believe that peace can be maintained.

"I should like, in conclusion, to pay tribute to our Portuguese friends and allies who were our hosts in Lisbon. The arrangements they made for the Conference were beyond praise, and on all sides I found evidence of an enduring friendship based on our ancient alliance."

Following is the Joint Declaration of Foreign Secretaries on an Austrian State Treaty, referred to in the noble Marquess's Statement: The Governments of the United Kingdom the United States of America and France are seriously concerned that the arrangements which had been made for discussions by the Deputies for the Austrian Treaty to take place on the 21st January, for the purpose of concluding the Treaty, were frustrated owing to the failure of the Soviet Deputy to attend. The three Governments recall that Austria, the first country to be occupied by Hider, was promised her freedom and independence in a declaration made in Moscow in the name of the Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the U.S.S.R. on 1st November, 1943. France associated herself with this declaration on 16th November, 1943. The Governments the announced their determination that Austria should be liberated from German domination and re-established as a free and independent country. Yet eight years afterwards and despite 258 meetings of the Deputies to conclude the Treaty, Austria has not yet regained her full independence. Her laws are submitted to a foreign body before being passed, her communications are controlled and censored, and above all her territory is divided into zones occupied by foreign troops with all the economic and moral hardship on the Austrian people that this implies. The Austrians ardently desire to see terminated a state of affairs which should rightly have ended long ago. The three Governments fully share this aspiration and consider that renewed efforts should be made to solve a problem with which the world ought no longer to be confronted. They are therefore urgently examining new proposals so that the Four Powers may be enabled to fulfil their pledge made in the Moscow Declaration to restore to Austria her full freedom and independence.

5.7 p.m.

EARL JOWITT

My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Marquess for conveying to us at considerable though not undue length the important Statement which has been made in another place. Long though it was, it could do no more than indicate the broad outlines of the matters which have been discussed. I should like to ask the noble Marquess whether he does not think it would be appropriate that a White Paper should be published, giving us in a convenient form all the relevant material, so that we may form a judgment on these important matters. The White Paper would include, for instance, all the documents which have been mentioned—the Protocol, to which reference has been made, other documents which were not mentioned but which have possibly been drafted, and other matters. I believe that it would be for the convenience of the House if the Government could see their way to publish such a White Paper.

LORD REA

My Lords, on behalf of noble Lords on these Benches, may I endorse what has been said by the noble and learned Earl and at the same time, thank the noble Marquess for the most interesting and far-reaching Statement which he has made? We also should like to see a White Paper published, and we hope that the Government will be good enough to give the noble Earl's suggestion their consideration.

THE MARQUESS OF READING

My Lords, I will certainly consult my right honourable friend about the noble and learned Earl's suggestion. It may well be that it will be possible to fall in with it.