– in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 17 Rhagfyr 1947.
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign. Affairs what steps are being taken to develop cooperative economic action between the 16 European nations which accepted the Marshall Plan.
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps have been taken, or will be taken, by this country in the direction of proposing to the other 15 nations signatories to the Marshall Plan Report to set up an administrative body to administer the Plan; and if he will make a statement.
As the answer is rather long, I will, with permission circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied that everything that might be done is being done in this regard, in view of the stress laid on the Harvard speech, and the opinion which is obviously prevelant in the United States that Europe is rather hanging back in this matter?
I do not agree that Europe is hanging back. Europe is in a very difficult position. It is difficult for Europe to know what steps to take until Congress has taken its decision, but we are moving with great speed and I do not think we can be accused in Europe of being slow in taking advantage of the Harvard speech.
Would the right hon. Gentleman agree that it will, in the main, facilitate the Marshall Plan to have some sort of administrative body set up in advance, so that when the Plan is agreed on the other side there will be somebody to function?
Yes, but that depends on how Congress lays down the conditions. We do not know whether Congress will lay down conditions so that, although there is a global allocation, it may have to be bilaterally negotiated, and we cannot anticipate what the final decision of Congress will be. That is the great difficulty which we are seeking to overcome at the present moment.
May I ask my right hon. Friend whether the European Committee for Economic Co-operation which already exists is to be used for this purpose?
I do not think so directly in connection with the Marshall aid, because the Economic Commission for Europe covers Europe as a whole, and a large number of the countries in Europe have contracted entirely out and have refused to co-operate in this aid.
Is it true that a majority of the 16 nations were anxious to see a fully-fledged customs union created, and is it also true that the British representative opposed that?
No, it is not true. What we did was to point out that Britain cannot be exclusively a member of a customs union of Europe. As I have explained so many times, the contribution to the equilibrium of this country from Europe is about 25 per cent., and the great bulk of our trade and commerce is with the Commonwealth and with outside countries. Therefore, our endeavour is to do what we can to assist a European customs union, and at the same time to do what we can to maintain the external trade of this country, in order that our prosperity may be secured.
May I ask the Foreign Secretary if his answers mean that no plan or plans have been made in advance in anticipation of Congress agreeing to grant aid to Europe?
We are like a military organisation—it depends on how the other forces move which plan we bring out.
Then there are plans?
Certainly.
As I stated in the House on 9th December, the Governments which participated in the Paris Conference are not in a position to take steps to set up the joint organisation to review progress in the execution of the European Recovery Programme until the means for carrying out that programme are made available. I should like, however, to assure the hon. Member that His Majesty's Government, for their part are resolved at the appropriate time to play their full part, in association with the French Government, their co-sponsors of the Paris Conference, in the establishment and operation of such an organisation, which they are convinced will be necessary and which will be an important and responsible factor in the carrying through of the European Recovery Programme. In the meantime, our policy is to participate to the fullest possible extent in the continued joint study of the specific problems to which I shall refer in a moment and also to engage, whenever opportunity offers, in consultations with other countries in an effort to relieve the economic ills of Europe.
2. We also feel that if members of the Committee of European Economic Co-operation are to receive generous assistance from the United States and perhaps other countries in the Western Hemisphere, in order to enable them to regain their economic stability, it is only natural that they should be called upon in return so to organise themselves that the assistance received is fully and effectively utilised.
3. Meanwhile I would like to take this opportunity of pointing out that close consultation and co-operation between the countries concerned is already taking place on a number of specific subjects closely related to the Paris Report and to the fulfilment of the European Recovery Programme.
4. In addition we are continuing to participate fully in the work of the Economic Commission for Europe, at Geneva, which has now taken over the work of the emergency economic committees formerly established in London and Paris. Sub-committees have been set up on steel and manpower, and are likely to get down to business in the New Year. Working parties of the Commission have as suggested in the Paris Report, been examining inland transport problems such as the standardisation of rolling stock, the interchangeability of working parts, flows of traffic and the pooling of freight cars; the recommendations on these problems are likely to be transmitted to Governments in the near future. The timber sub-committee has had one meeting and expects to have another in January.
6. At the same time the United Kingdom, no doubt in common with every country which participated in the Paris Conference, is concentrating its efforts on increasing its own production in order to enable it to play its full part in the programme when this takes effect. It would not, I think, be inappropriate for me to mention that, as regards coal exports, we are beating the timetable of the Paris Report, albeit in small measure, by beginning a modest programme of exports on the 1st January, 1948.