8 - “Europe’s District of Columbia”

Summary

Any solution to the Saar problem should definitively guarantee the Saar's internal autonomy and protect the France-Saar economic union.

—French Foreign Ministry note, December 1953

However difficult the choices may be, to govern is to choose.

—Pierre Mendès France

France and the Dilemma of Europeanization

FRANCE'S SAAR POLICY began to change shortly after Hoffmann's electoral victory in the fall of 1952. On December 22, Antoine Pinay's government fell. Georges Bidault, who had long sided with Grandval against Schuman, took Robert Schuman's place as foreign minister in the new government that René Mayer assembled on January 7, 1953. Mayer took a tougher stance with West Germany on the Saar. In his inaugural address Mayer stated that an agreement on a European statute for the Saar was a prerequisite for France's ratification of the EDC treaty. Nonetheless, in order to improve the image of France and strengthen the position of the Saar government, he also advocated a revision of the Franco-Saar conventions of 1950. Schuman had informed Hoffmann just before the election that the French were interested in modifying the 1950 conventions, although talks between the French and Saar governments did not begin until February 1953. The French government proposed changes to the 1950 conventions that gave some power to the Saar government, including greater control over the mines, more input in trade matters, the right to conduct its own diplomacy and to open consulates in other nations, and the lifting of France's right to veto the Landtag. Negotiations for these amendments to the 1950 conventions concluded in late March 1953 and were signed that May. While France hoped these conventions would improve its position before it entered into new talks with West Germany on the Saar, they had not gone far enough for many in the Saar government, who wanted majority control over the mines, which was essential for the Saar state to obtain full sovereignty. For his part, Adenauer viewed the conventions as giving the Saar government too much authority and thus protested against them. However, after the signature of these amendments, the Saar government created an Office of European and Foreign Affairs. Grandval, who in Adenauer's opinion exerted an influence in Gaullist circles that greatly hindered a favorable settlement to the Saar question, also saw his rank changed from high commissioner to ambassador.