December 20, 1974 parlarne con Cavazza
cosa ne sa? se poco perché?
cosa ⯑
cosa consiglia
Dr.Doctor Piero Bassetti
Via GesuGesù 13
20121 Milano, Italy
Dear Dr.Doctor Bassetti:

I thought our Executive Committee meetings in Washington December 8-10 went particularly well. Not only did we have really good discussions at the meetings among ourselves, but there was also real substance rather than just "politesse" in the meetings with the President, Henry Kissinger, and Rogers Morton, Secretary of the Interior and U. S. energy coordinator; and also, though more briefly, in the meeting with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The President and also the Secretary of State in discussion responded positively to some of the concerns of our European and Japanese colleagues about U.S. foreign policy and expeciallyespecially the question of cooperation rather than confrontation with the OPECOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries countries. I also feel that our emphasis on the complementary — and not conflicting — character of the French and U.S. positions on energy was of some relevance to the outcome of the subsequent Ford-Giscard meeting in Martinique.

I feel our meetings have now answered clearly one of the principal questions we had when we started the enterprise: whether a group of men and women of very different backgrounds and experience and from three different regions of the world could, in fact, reach conclusions specific enough to be meaningful. In this connection, I am enclosing a Resolution adopted by the Trilateral Commission's Executive Committee at the end of its meetings. The Committee also approved issuance of the enclosed preliminary report on relations with the developing countries as well as of a slightly revised version of the energy report which was previously sent to you for comment and of which you will later receive a printed copy.

The most interesting recommendations in the reports and resolution, in my opinion, are the following:

a new bank for fund recycling with equal control by producers and consumers. If this could be created, it would not only further the necessary process of cooperation between consumers and producers, which the Executive Committee felt to be so important; but it would also mean that producers and consumers would share any bad debts, rather than having most of them borne by the United States and West Germany;

oil?

a recommendation that the annual growth of energy consumption be held below two percent in North America, three percent in Europe, and four percent in Japan;

a new international development agency to borrow $3 billion a year from 1976 to 1980 from the OPECOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries countries at eight percent, and to make it available to the most needy developing countries at three percent. The total cost of the necessary interest subsidy from 1976 to 1980 would be $900 million a year, of which the U. S. share might be about $170 million, a sum small enough so that it should be politically feasible;

a Middle East peace settlement guaranteed by the United States and the Soviet Union.

I hope these will interest you.

We have very much appreciated your support, and if you have any questions on this material or any other aspect of the Commission's work, I shall be glad to try to answer them.

Sincerely,


Zbigniew Brzezinski

Trasmettiamo in allegato copia del resoconto dei lavori della riunione del Comitato Esecutivo della Commissione Trilaterale (Washington, 10-11 dicembre 1974), redatto dai Professori Merlini e Colombo, che hanno partecipato in rappresentanza del gruppo italiano.

Cordiali saluti.

FIAT
DIREZIONE STUDI E
RELAZIONI CULTURALI

Le trasmetto un ennesimo incartamento della Trilateral Commission. Come può intravvedere, Bassetti vorrebbe sapere cosa ne sa Lei e quale è la sua valuzionetazione; inoltre ovorrebbe indicazioni su come comportarsi.

Your December 20 letter sums up very well the outstanding work performed by the Trilateral Commission, especially on the crucial issue of the energy crisis.

I agree in principle with recommendation Number One, that is the new bank equally controlled by consumers and producers for fund recycling. However, I would observe that such a settep requires a preliminary basic and firm "entente" between consumer countries. And frankly speadking I do not still see fair prospects for such an "entente". The guolf between EECEuropean Economic Community countries and US may be perhaps narrowed by the compromise that, according to press repaorts, is likely to result from the Washington meetings taking place in these very days. Yet, I am not very optimistic about a quick formation of a solid front of the consumer countries. Nevertheless the road mapped by the Trilateral Commission appears me as consistent with our main interests, not only Japanese, but, particularly, European and American ones.

I shall appreciate your informations and I shall be very glad to have a chance to discuss with you these issues in a not too distant future.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful letter of January 15th. I share your concerns about the difficulties of organizing a solid front of the consumer countries, but I also feel that delays on that should not inhibit the beginning of exploratory talks with the producers. Otherwise, the prospect for all of us is increasing chaos.

With kind regards,


Zbigniew Brzezinski