The Aid Plan Takes Shape
These are crucial days in the .building of the administrative struc- ture of the European Recovery Programme. The setting up of the organisation for European Economic Co-operation in Paris has been preceded by some intensive work by the committee concerned with the drafting of its charter, and a great deal depends on the intelli- gence and foresight which they have put into the work. The task of consolidating the European economy and allocating American aid between sixteen countries in peace-time is so completely without precedent, and so much depends on its successful performance, that there must be no faults in the foundation. A threefold structure with a controlling Council of Foreign Ministers at the top, an executive committee in the middle composed of representatives of the sixteen participating countries in rotation, and a permanent secretariat at the bottom is a reasonable arrangement. The key position in day-to- day work is occupied by the executive committee, and the importance which the British Government attaches to it is indicated by the appointment of Sir Edmund Hall-Patch as principal British repre- sentative, with the rank of Ambassador. The list of its duties includes the joint examination of resources, consideration of their best use, assistance to member States who have difficulty in meeting their production targets, and the efficient use of both European resources and American aid. Everything depends, of course, on the way the organisation works when it has specific problems to deal with, but at any rate there seem to be no actual impediments to smooth working in the charter itself. Developments at the American end will be of equal importance. Clearly, the powers of Mr. Hoffman's organisa- tion are such that partieblars of its structure and of the principles on which it will work will be awaited with eagerness. Right at the start the lines of division between outright grants and loans for which some repayment may be required will begin to be drawn, and this is a matter in which European as well as American views will have to be formed with care. The plan will dominate the economy of Western Europe for at least four years, and it must be well begun.
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