U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman Press Statement

Press Statement by Under Secretary Stuart E. Eizenstat
July 15, 1999

Third Plenary Meeting of the Steering Group to
Prepare the Foundation Initiative of German Enterprises

At my invitation and at the invitation of the German Government, the Third Plenary meeting was held in the Department of State on July 15, 1999 on the planned "Foundation Initiative of German Enterprises: Remembrance, Responsibility and Future."

Today's meeting was attended by representatives of the enterprises concerned, headed by Dr. Gentz, spokesman of the coordinating group, the German and United States Governments, members of the German Bundestag, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the Governments of the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the foundations in those Central and East European Countries dedicated to reconciliation and understanding, and the plaintiffs' legal counsel.

I co-chaired the meeting with Director General Gerhard Westdickenberg of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The discussion was based on the German enterprises' proposal introduced in Bonn to address forced and slave labor issues from the Nazi era and other issues. Progress was made in the following areas:

There was an additional narrowing of differences on the plan to create two categories of former forced laborers that would receive payments on the basis of whether they were (A) inmates of a concentration camp, or similar facilities, or (B) other detained forced laborers, but without regard to nationality or religion. We agreed that we need to develop an objective approach to determining which facilities belong to which category.

There was general agreement that the foundation should make one-time payments to individuals, and the payment should vary on the basis of whether applicants to the foundation fell into Category A or B. The participants agreed to continue discussion of this proposal.

The original concept put forward by the German private sector in its June 17 draft called for variations in payments depending on need and living standards. Many participants asked that this concept be changed in favor of a single flat rate, an approach that was seen as administratively essential to assure prompt payments to aging victims. German industry indicated that the amount of the foundation is capped, and the foundation could be more effective if its payments would be directed to those in need. Differences on the issue of need were narrowed. There was a discussion to provide, in addition to a fixed one-time payment, payments to eligible persons who are particularly needy. German enterprise representatives agreed to consider these proposals.

There was discussion that the threshold for qualifying for foundation payments should be a period that would be shorter than the six-month period specified in the initial enterprise draft.

It was agreed that payments made by private enterprises after the war to individuals will be fully offset. There was discussion, but no agreement, that offsets for prior government payments should be taken into consideration.

Dr. Westdickenberg and I also briefed the participants on the significant progress that had been made regarding legal closure during this round of discussions. These discussions addressed pending class action lawsuits in U.S. courts. Several constructive proposals were put forward and will be given further consideration.

Further meetings in Bonn or in Washington will be scheduled in coordination with the new co-chairman soon to be announced as Minister Hombach's successor.

[end of document]