Editorial Note

On January 12 Bevin and Cripps told Harriman that they agreed that OEEC operations should be strengthened at the ministerial level. Bevin supported a proposal by Cripps for executive direction by five ministers (Spaak as chairman, and vice chairmen from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and one of the Scandinavian countries), with preliminary steps to be taken in London looking toward a ministerial meeting in mid-February. Harriman concluded that the British favored a stronger political structure for the OEEC but still had reservations concerning the operating organization. (Telegram Repto 2285 from Paris, January 14, not printed, ECA Telegram Files, FRC Acc. No. 53A278, Paris Repto)

For additional information on the structure and activities of the OEEC, see its various publications and reports, including The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation: Two Years of Economic Co-operation (Paris, 1950).