§ 12. Mr. Platts-Millsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what were the circumstances in which His Majesty's Government were notified that the American Government now had no objection to the proposal to summon a new 16-nation conference to consider the Marshall Plan; and whether he will publish the full terms of that notification.
Mr. McNeilNo formal notification on this subject was received. However, on 10th February, the United States State Department told us that since the Foreign Relations Committee was expected to agree shortly upon a draft European Recovery Bill, there might, in their view, be advantage in holding an early meeting of the Committee of European Economic Recovery. I understand that similarly they made known their views to the French Embassy in Washington. In each case the State Department made it clear, as one would expect, that the decision to convene such a meeting was exclusively the decision of the European Powers concerned.