§ 83. Mr. Warbeyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will instruct the United Kingdom delegation to the Economic Commission for Europe to press for immediate consideration by the Commission of the economic problems of Greece and Turkey.
§ Mr. BevinThe Economic Commission for Europe is instructed by its terms of reference, to which His Majesty's Government have already agreed, to give prior consideration, during its initial stages, to measures to facilitate the economic reconstruction of devastated countries of Europe which are members of the United Nations. The Commission is at present in the period of organisation and its first task will be to consult with the members of the Emergency Economic Commission for Europe, the European Coal Organisation and the European Central Inland Transport Organisation with a view to the prompt termination of the60W first, the absorption or termination of the second and third, while ensuring that the essential work performed by each of the three is fully maintained. Thereafter, the order of priority of the tasks before it will, of course, be a matter for determination by the Commission itself, but the United Kingdom representative will be concerned to see that these tasks are discharged in an equitable manner and one which advances European recovery. While there is nothing to prevent any particular country from bringing its needs to the attention of the Commission, I mast point out that the prime consideration is European recovery as a whole, and I do not consider that it would be appropriate to instruct the United Kingdom delegation to press the Commission to consider the economic problems of any particular countries