40608B
380
6
Pages of the other hand in view of their interesafe subje,the three
Governments intend to participate fully in each stage of the procedure.
4. The following procedure is proposed:
(a) Consultations between the three Governments and the German Federal Government, the Governments of other countries with a significant creditor interest, and representatives of creditors and debtors, on the implications of the statement on points of principle in Enclosure 3, on certain technical issues listed in Enclosure 4, and on the procedure itself. The purpose of the consultations is to explain these matters to the participants and to obtain their views on them and upon the prac tical methods of implementation. As a result of these consultations, the three Governments would revise and elaborate the documents as necessary. (b) Preparation of proposed settlement arrangements by the interested parties. The detailed organisation of meetings for this purpose and the pro- cedure to be followed will be discussed in the consultations referred to above. It is, however, agreed that the procedure should allow for direct negotiations between representatives of debtors and creditors and for full participation by the Tripartite Commission acting on behalf of the three Governments.
(c) Conclusion of an intergovernmental Agreement which would enter into force when signed and approved by the three Governments and the Government of the Federal Republic and to which other Governments would be able to accede.
5. The three Governments have considered the best way of organising the consultations referred to in paragraph 4 (a) and believe that it is desirable that a meeting should be held at which the interested parties, both governmental and private, should have an opportunity of expressing their views. It is proposed that such a meeting should be called in London in the autumn of this year.
6. In order to ensure that this meeting is productive and leads without undue delay to the negotiations envisaged in paragraph 4 (b), adequate preparation must be made. The three Governments intend that this preparation should include informal meetings with German representatives and with representatives of the principal creditor groups in the three countries, to which the Governments of four other countries which have a major creditor interest, namely, Belgium, the Nether- lands, Sweden and Switzerland are being invited to appoint observers. Such meetings will be purely preliminary and designed to explore the issues and prepare the ground for the autumn meeting. Governments of creditor countries not repre- sented will receive further documents drawn up after these informal meetings. It is hoped that through the circulation of the present and later documents all inter- ested Governments will be able to consult the private creditor interests in their own countries and make adequate preparation for their participation at the autumn meeting.
7. Following a short visit to Bonn early in June to explain the procedure to the German Federal Government, the Tripartite Commission will hold the pre- liminary informal meetings referred to in paragraph 6 in London at the end of June. Thereafter it will complete its own preparatory work, and during August invitations will be issued to the full consultations which it is hoped will be held at the end of September. The negotiation of the general settlement arrangements and the preparation of the intergovernmental Agreement would follow as soon as possible.
ENCLOSURE 3
POINTS OF PRINCIPLE
I
1. The three Governments acting in conformity with their responsibilities and by reason of their position as the principal and priority creditors of Germany, have agreed with the Federal Government, in an exchange of letters of 6th March, 1951, between the Federal Chancellor and the Allied High Com- mission that a debt settlement plan should be worked out in the interest of the re-establishment of normal economic relations between the Federal Republic and other countries. The general purpose of this plan would be to provide for the settlement of the pre-war external debts of Germany and of German debtors and of the debts for economic assistance extended to Germany since 8th May, 1945, Page the lite58ccupying Powers.