RECOVERY IN EUROPE

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25274, 28 August 1947, Page 7

RECOVERY IN EUROPE

AMERICAN OFFICIAL TO VISIT PARIS LEADING AUTHORITY ON MARSHALL PLAN (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11.40 p.m.) LONDON, August 27. The United States State Department •is sending its leading expert on the Marshall plan, Mr George F. Keenan, to Paris, where 16 European nations are trying to draft a basis for the economic recovery of Europe. Mr Keenan, who is chief of the State Department’s policy planning committee, will provide the leading United States representatives in Europe with the latest report on Marshall plan developments in Washington as a guide to what Europe can expect in aid from America. The Washington correspondent of the "New York Herald Tribune” interprets Mr Keenan’s mission as a reversal of America’s official "hands off ’ attitude towards the conference. “So far,” he says, “Washington’s policy officially has been to let the conference develop its own programme and own estimates of how much American help will be needed. Lately, however, there has been alarm over indications that the European nations have developed estimates of aid required from America far beyond the amounts which Congress would be likely to provide. "It is reported that some of the estimates considered by the conference call for 30,000,000.000 dollars in aid from the United States in the next five years. This figure is almost double that contained in the State Department’s preliminary estimates.” A message from Paris says that the conference is expected to begin the drafting of its report this week, and to have it ready for publication by mid-September. The reports of all conference committees, except those dealing with labour, convertibility, and the balance of payments, are being reviewed, and the remainder are expected to be presented this week. With the exception of Norway and Sweden, all the participating nations have now agreed to set up a study group to investigate the possibility of establishing a European customs union. The Paris correspondent of the “Financial Times” says that Norway and Sweden are holding aloof because of the probable reactions of their Russian neighbour, but the only real enthusiasts for the proposal are the Benelux group (Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg) and France. Britain, though she has agreed to join the study group, plainly has not made up her mind. However, the conference plainly feels that American public opinion is likely to be favourably impressed by efforts to reduce European customs barriers, and that it is therefore bound to investigate the possibilities. Another factor limiting the conference is uncertainty about the final decision on the level of German industry. Even if the present three-Power talks in London reach agreement, no definite decision about Germany can be reached until November, when the four Foreign Ministers meet again in London.