Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Financial and Economic Committee - Permanent Working Staff
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1949-1951
History
The FEC(STAFF) chronological series contains the records of the Financial and Economic Committee - Permanent Working Staff. During its first session on 17th September 1949 the Council Deputies recognized in directive D-1/3 the importance of economic and financial factors in the development and implementation of military plans for the defence of the North Atlantic Area. Consequently the Council Deputies agreed that a working group should be created which would make recommendations to the Council on the appropriate machinery to deal with these matters.The Defence Financial and Economic Committee (DFEC) was established on 18th November 1949 during the second session of Council Deputies. The directive D-1/4 to the Defence Financial and Economic Committee set up the composition of the Committee consisting in one member at ministerial level (Finance Ministers) for every signatory country and stipulated that the new body would report directly to the Council. Its terms of reference included a provision for a Permanent Working Staff (PWS) in London to carry the day-to-day work of the Committee (see FEC(STAFF)D(49)4). The PWS was composed of qualified personnel representing interested countries. The DFEC could delegate its functions to the PWS as it deemed appropriate. The Chairmanship of the Working Staff rotated with that of the Defence Financial and Economic Committee. Mr. R.C. Breithut (USA) was elected Chairman.The functions of the PWS were to formulate and transmit to the Military Production and Supply Board and the Military Committee requests for information and special reports needed for the completion of the DFEC projects, and to elaborate such relevant information to guide and recommend on specific financial and economic issues. The PWS met 40 times before its dissolution in May 1951. The DFEC disappeared as a result of the modification of NATO‘s structure by a decision of the Council Deputies on 3rd May 1951 (see D-D(51)86 Final). The functions, responsibilities and much of the staff of the Permanent Working Staff (PWS) were transferred to the Financial and Economic Board (FEB) on its establishment by resolution of the Council Deputies on 1st May 1951 (D-D(51)121).
