DRAFT TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE COUNCIL AND COUNCIL DEPUTIES

At its meeting on October 25, 1950, Cabinet agreed to the proposal of the Minister of National Defence that at the forthcoming meeting of the North Atlantic Defence Committee in Washington he should, among other things, seek to simplify the structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A memorandum, drafted in the Department of External Affairs, was subsequently circulated among the Council Deputies in London. The objectives of the Canadian proposals for streamlining and simplifying the top structure of NATO met with a warm response from most Governments, and at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels on December 19, a resolution was passed supporting the idea in principle and asking the Deputies to formulate specific recommendations or take appropriate action as speedily as possible. This development was noted with approval by Cabinet when discussing the report of the Minister of National Defence on December 21, 1950.

Since that time, the Deputies have been discussing a series of draft recommen­dations which have recently narrowed down to recommendations for revising the terms of reference of the Council and Council Deputies only; the reorganization of the military structure of NATO and of the agencies concerned with production, finance, economic, and information activities are being held in abeyance for the time being; to wait until all details of the related and subordinate organizations under the Treaty have been worked out would delay acceptance of the central pro­posals for the Council and Council Deputies and once the top structure has been agreed, the terms of reference for the related agencies can more readily be adopted.

During the past few days, the Deputies have reached almost complete agreement on a draft text contained in Document DD(51)86 (Revise),? attached. Final agree­ment among the Deputies is expected to be reached within the next day or two. (The Deputies have already decided that they prefer the U.S. draft text of paragraph 4, given in the Document). By Monday, April 16, the Deputies hope to be in a position to approve of the Document on behalf of their Governments.³⁵ This will obviate the necessity for waiting for the next meeting of the Council and would give the seal of approval forthwith to plans which have already been fully and care­fully discussed over a period of several months, in consultation with the Ministers principally concerned.

To quote from the memorandum explaining the Canadian proposals to the other Deputies,

"The Canadian approach to the problem is based on two assumptions:

(a) That there is a general recognition by member governments that the increased responsibilities of the NATO now makes necessary some degree of reorganization, and that it is timely to examine the problem as a whole;

(b) That any changes in the organization that may be necessary or advisable should be made without alteration of the Treaty, that is by appropriate revision of the "bylaws" of the NATO rather than by amendment to its "constitution". (In the Canadian view, this can be accomplished by revising previous decisions of the Council and the Defence Committee).

"Under the present structure, with three separate Committees of Ministers, a problem of coordination arises and this problem is difficult to resolve simply through the Council Deputies. Moreover, quick action is often impeded because if a meeting of a Ministerial Committee is pending Governments may tend to defer approval of proposals under consideration in the Council Deputies. With the accelerated transformation from the period of planning to the period of action, it is desirable to limit the number of Treaty bodies which meet periodi­cally. The changed circumstances dictate that all the subsidiary bodies of the organization should be on a continuing basis, with only the North Atlantic Council meeting periodically to review progress and work of the subsidiary bod­ies and to make decisions on higher and general policy."

The draft terms of reference have been submitted by the Deputies for approval by governments. If approved, the terms of reference will mean the acceptance of the central features of the Canadian proposals. After referring to the basic NATO documents establishing the original terms of reference for the Council and Council Deputies, the document proceeds to outline consolidated terms of reference for the Council, as a Council representing Governments, and for the Deputies acting continuously on behalf of the Council when the Council is not in session. Under the proposed terms of reference, neither the Council nor their Deputies shall have authority to take decisions which shall bind Governments except on the express authority of Governments; their primary function is, as before, to make recommen­dations to Governments. But the anomaly of having three separate Ministerial committees comprising the top structure of NATO would have been eliminated by their incorporation into one Council, and a sound constitutional basis for cooperation between civil and military sides of the organization would have been established.

The operative paragraphs in the attached document are paragraph 4 dealing with the Council and paragraphs 10 and 11 dealing with the Deputies.

While the Government might have preferred to have seen proposals covering the reorganization of NATO as a whole, including the military, economic, financial, and information agencies under the Treaty, I think that with the acceptance of the central features of the Canadian proposals for the Council and Council Deputies, a major improvement will have been effected which will help to speed up and co­ordinate effective action for building up our common strength under the Treaty. I therefore recommend that Mr. Wilgress should be authorized by the Government to agree to the terms of reference for the Council and Council Deputies in accordance with Document DD(51)86 (Revise).³⁶

³⁵ Voir/See FRUS, 1951, Volume 111, pp. 142n.2, 150n.3, 156-59.

³⁶Approuvé par le Cabinet, le 13 avril 1951./Approved by Cabinet, April 13, 1951.