Europeanization,  There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  majority  opinion  in  the  Saar  at
present  favours  Europeanization,  but  with  time  this  mood  may  give  way  to  a  revival
  of  German  nationalism.
Recent  Franco-German  Negotiations
4.  No  progress  on  the  Saar  was  to  be  expected  until  after  the  German  elections.  But
the  pace  of  Franco-German  negotiation  since  then  has  been  disappointingly  slow.
The  Chancellor  began  preparatory  talks  with  the  French  High  Commissioner  at  the
beginning  of  November.  So  far  these  seem  to  have  only  emphasized  the  difficulties.
Possible  Anglo-U.S.  Intervention
5.  Recently  the  Americans  have  given  general  and  ineffective  exhortations  to  both
the  French  and  Germans.  We  have  restricted  ourselves  to  impressing  upon  both
sides  the  importance  which  we  attach  to  an  early  settlement  of  the  Saar.  It  has  been
our  policy  to  leave  the  French  and  Germans  as  far  as  possible  to  work  out  a  settlement
  by  themselves,  and  to  intervene  only  when  it  became  absolutely  necessary
and,  preferably,  when  requested  by  the  parties  concerned.  In  view  of  the  disappointing
  progress  which  recent  Franco-German  negotiations  made,  it  looks,  however,
  as  if  joint  Anglo-U.S.  intervention  will  be  necessary  if  the  Saar  is  not  to
obstruct  ratification  of  the  Treaties.  But  we  shall  not  be  able  to  decide  on  the
correct  timing  and  manner  of  our  intervention,  in  order  that  it  should  be  really
effectual,  until  Dr.  Adenauer  and  M.  Bidault  have  made  further  progress  towards
isolating  the  major  points  of  difficulty.
The  Council  of  Europe
6.  Following  the  submission  of  M.  van  der  Goes’  report  and  proposals  for  a  settlement
  of  the  Saar9,  the  Consultative  Assembly  recommended  that  the  French  and
Germans  should  be  encouraged  to  continue  their  direct  talks.  A  conference  should
be  convened  early  in  1954,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Council  of  Europe,  of  representatives
  of  the  six  E.C.S.C.10  countries,  the  High  Authority  of  the  E.C.S.C.,  the
United  States  and  the  United  Kingdom,  While  potentially  valuable  as  a  catalyst,  a
conference  of  this  kind  is  not  likely  to  take  place  in  time  to  affect  the  ratification  of
the  E.D.C.  Treaty.  At  present  the  General  Affairs  Committee  of  the  Consultative
Assembly  is  giving  further  study  during  its  meeting  in  Paris  to  the  van  der  Goes
proposals.

9  Text  des  Plans  zur  Europäisierung  der  Saar  von  Marinus  van  der  Goes  van  Naters  bei
R.  SCHMIDT,  Saarpolitik,  Bd.  2,  S.  760  ff.
"J  European  Coal  and  Steel  Community.

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