North Atlantic Treaty Organization

The final communiqué of the second annual meeting of the North Atlantic Council stated that the ministers had agreed upon the establishment at the earliest possible date of an integrated force under centralized command adequate to deter aggression and insure defense of western Europe. The integrated force was to be based on the following principles: a) the force was to be organized and subject to the political and strategic guidance of the appropriate agencies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; b) the force was to be under a supreme commander with sufficient delegated authority to ensure effective training of an integrated force by an international staff representing all the nations participating; c) the standing group of the military committee was to be responsible for higher strategic direction of the integrated force. The Defense Committee was requested to recommend the steps necessary to bring the force into being, the changes and simplifications necessary to ensure close working relationships between member governments, the character and composition of the forces to be allocated to the integrated force by the member governments, and the utilization of German manpower–on which subject the Council was agreed that Germany should be enabled to contribute to the buildup of the defense of western Europe.