Possible Admission Of Germany By New European Group

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23042, 5 September 1949, Page 5

Possible Admission Of Germany By New European Group

PARIS, Sept. 2

Without mentioning Germany, the General Affairs (Political) Committee of the European Consultative Assembly disclosed today that it had agreed unanimously that a committee of Ministers should consider the question of admitting new members and associate members- before the Assembly’s next session is held. This recommendation follows Mr. Winston Churchill's proposal that a special session of the assembly should be called for next January with German representatives present. Reuter’s Strasbourg correspondent says that the mention of “associate members” in the general committee s report is taken by observers to be an implied reference to Germany. The French Foreign Minister, M. Robert Schuman, said today that France would fight the admission of Germany to the council unless the Saar also became a member. M. Schuman said the Saar had taken no part in the formation of the West German Government, but it had its own Government and Parliament with an economy attached to France. The European Assembly, through its legal committee today, agreed to ask the Foreign Ministers of the 12 member countries to go into the question of creating a European passport. The -recommendation suggested that the Foreign Ministers should initiate inquiries in their departments and exchange views.