1. This document forms a sequel to the Supplementary Report to the Eighth Report which the Committee of Ministers had the honour to present to the Assembly on the occasion of the second part of its Ninth Session (Doc. 710).
2. It covers the period from 16th October 1957 to 13th January 1958.
3. The Committee of Ministers held its 21st Session in Paris on 13th and 14th December 1957. The decisions taken during t h a t Session are set out in the relevant chapters of the present Report.
4. The 21st Session of the Committee of Ministers also witnessed the signing of the European Convention on Extradition and of the Multilateral Agreement on the Regulations governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe.
5. The Joint Committee met on 13th December 1957 at ministerial level.
6. The Committee of Ministers also took note of Resolution 129 (1957) of the Assembly amending Rule 46 of the Rules of Procedure relating to the Joint Committee.
7. During the period under review the Ministers' Deputies held three meetings :
8. The present Report is set out in the form adopted by the Committee of Ministers for its preceding reports.
9. At its 21st Session held in Paris on 13th and 14th December 1957, the Committee of Ministers adopted Resolution (57) 27, which reads as follows :
" The Committee of Ministers,
Recalling its Resolutions (56) 24 on the duplication of work between European organisations and (57) 10 on relations between the Council of Europe and O. E. E. C;
Taking note of the following texts brought to its attention concerning certain important aspects of the institutional structure of European collaboration :
Expresses its appreciation of the contributions made by the Assembly, the Liaison Committees of the Council and O. E. E. C, and other European bodies;
Reaffirms its interest in the eventual attainment of the most effective pattern of European institutions, in the interest both of avoiding duplication of effort and of giving maximum impact to intergovernmental collaboration and parliamentary association in Europe;
Expresses the wish that, as soon as the institutions of the European Economic. Community and the European Atomic Energy Community are set up, close relations should be established between the Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the Communities of the Six and, in general, between the Council of Europe, on the one hand, and the European Economic Community and European Atomic Energy Community, on the other;
Welcomes the OEEC Resolutions of October 17th declaring the determination of that Council to secure the establishment of a European Free Trade Area; and
Draws to the attention of the Council of O. E. E. C. the expression of views of the Consultative Assembly in its Recommendation 152;
Decides :
1. The reports prepared by O. E. E. C. for the Consultative Assembly are presented to the latter by a Minister representing O. E. E. C. The Representatives to the Assembly may address written questions on these reports to O. E. E. C. before they are presented by the Minister in plenary session. As a rule the Minister who is presenting the O.E.E.C report to the Assembly takes part in a meeting of the Economic Committee of the Assembly, assisted by his advisors and by members of the Secretariat of O. E. E. C.
2. In order to avoid overlapping in the activities of the governmental bodies of the two organisations the Liaison Committees meet regularly to discuss any questions of an economic nature which may arise either from the discussions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, or from those of Council of the O. E. E. C.
3. (a) In order to assure the quick communication of texts adopted by the Consultative Assembly and relating to questions which are of interest to O. E. E. C, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe gives standing instructions to the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, to see that these texts are transmitted to the Council of O. E. E. C.
(b) The texts are then examined by the Liaison Committees—which should, in any case, meet after every session of the Consultative Assembly— with a view to determining which of the two organisations can more appropriately deal with the questions raised; it is then either for the Council of O. E. E. C. or for the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (after a technical opinion has been given by O. E. E. C.) to take final decisions on the substance. These two bodies keep each other mutually informed of their decisions, and it will rest with the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to communicate them to the Consultative Assembly. "
10. The Committee of Ministers instructed the Secretary-General to transmit the text of the above Resolution to O. E. E. C. and to the new institutions of the Common Market and Euratom.
11. The Committee of Ministers took note of Resolution 135 (1957) of the Assembly on strengthening the Working Party dealing with relations with national Parliaments.
12. At its 21st Session held in Paris on 13th and 14th December 1957 the Committee of Ministers adopted Resolution (57) 26 which reads as follows :
" The Committee of Ministers,
Having studied with interest Recommendation 150 adopted by the Consultative Assembly on the 27th October 1957, which it will continue to examine ;
Recalling its Resolution (56) 23 in which it recorded its conviction that the international situation makes it increasingly urgent for Member States to formulate and apply a common policy on all questions of vital concern to Europe.
Conscious of the importance of improving the methods of exchanging views on questions of common interest;
Convinced that, to this end, the closest possible co-operation between the Committee of Ministers and the Consultative Assembly is most desirable.
Resolves as follows :
13. The Committee of Ministers intends to re-examine Recommendation 150 (1957) at least in respect of paragraph 4.
14. After examining Recommendation 147 (1957) of the Assembly, the Committee of Ministers thought it unnecessary to consider amending Article 14 of the Statute. This Article, far from preventing, actually permits Governments to include in their delegations, in addition to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, or in his place, one or more Ministers whose presence may be held useful according to the matters under discussion. However, a meeting attended solely by Ministers other than those for Foreign Affairs in their capacity as heads of their ministerial departments, might well detract from the fundamental character of the work of the Council of Europe.
15. In regard to paragraph 3 of the Recommendation, the Committee recalls that this question was discussed at the meeting of the Joint Committee of 13th December 1957, and the Chairman, on behalf of the Committee of Ministers, pointed out t h a t , while he had no objection in principle to meetings of the kind advocated by the Assembly in Recommendation 139, such meetings seemed, at present, difficult to arrange in practice.
16. Having noted the Resolution unanimously adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14th November 1957, the Committee of Ministers instructed the Secretary-General to send a letter to the Secretary-General of the U.N. expressing the satisfaction of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with regard to this Resolution.
17. The text of this letter was made known to the Representatives to the Assembly at the meeting of the Joint Committee on 13th December 1957.
18. The Committee of Ministers took note of Resolution 134 (1957) concerning the regulation of the export of live horses and livestock for slaughter and decided to draw the attention of Member Governments to this Resolution.
19. The Committee of Exports on Public Health held its Seventh Session in Strasbourg from 12th to 14th December 1957.
20. The Report of the Experts will be examined shortly by the Committee of Ministers.
21. The Social Committee completed the preparation of the draft European Social Charter at its 6th Session held in Strasbourg from 25th to 29th November 1957.
22. The draft Charter has been submitted to Governments for consideration and is due to be discussed at the next meeting of the Committee of Ministers.
23. After requesting the opinion of O. E. E. C. on the proposal contained in Recommendation 113 (1957) of the Assembly concerning the holding of periodical conferences of Ministers of Labour and of Social Welfare, the Committee of Ministers decided to ask the Council of Europe/O. E. E. C. Liaison Committees to examine this question and, in particular, to consider the framework in which such a conference might be convened.
24. The Committee of Ministers also intends to propose that this question be placed on the Agenda of one of the coming meetings of the Joint Committee.
25. This Agreement was signed by Austria on 13th December 1957 (see Doc. 710, paragraph 68).
26. On 18th December 1957 France deposited with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe its instruments of ratification of these two Interim Agreements and the Protocols thereto.
27. To date, these two Agreements and the Protocols thereto have been ratified by the following member countries : Belgium, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
28. On 30th October 1957 France deposited with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe its instruments of ratification of this Convention and the Protocol thereto.
29. To date, the Convention and the Protocol thereto have been ratified by the following member countries : Belgium, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
30. The Seventh Course of European Studies was held in Strasbourg from 21st to 30th October 1957. The participants (of whom there were 39, including two participants attending informally) were members of trade union organisations affiliated to one of the two international confederations having consultative status with the Council of Europe, namely the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (I. C. F. T. U.) and the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions (I. F. C. T. U.).
31. The following persons were the lecturers :
32. The programme of the Course was prepared under the responsibility of the Director of the Course, with special reference to topics of interest to trade unions. The discussion of Council of Europe activities and major European problems was introduced by Representatives to the Consultative Assembly, officials of the Secretariat-General and by speakers representing the trade unions.
33. After examining the proposals made by the Committee of Cultural Experts at its special meeting of 11th and 12th October 1957, concerning the establishment of a Cultural Fund of the Council of Europe, the Committee of Ministers agreed, in principle, to the setting up of this Fund.
34. The Committee of Ministers is continuing the examination of the draft statute of the Fund and the programme drawn up by the Cultural Experts.
35. In regard to the questions raised in Recommendation 107 (1957) of the Assembly, the Committee of Cultural Experts made the following observations :
" (i) Ratification of the Convention concerning the recognition of periods of study spent in a university of another European countr
The Committee supports the Recommendation of the Consultative Assembly that Member Governments shall as speedily as possible ratify the Convention concerning the recognition of periods of study spent in a university of another European country.
It also recommends that Governments consider the possibility of extending to other subjects, by means of unilateral measures, the application of the principles advocated in that Convention in respect of modern languages.
(ii) University Interchange
The Committee wishes to emphasise that the chief purpose of the Council of Europe's intervention in arrangements for the exchange of teachers is to encourage the bilateral activity already undertaken in this field, by facilitating exchanges between distant countries.
It is important to prevent these exchanges, at present on the increase, from reaching saturation-point. To this end, the studies already carried out by the Secretariat of the European Universities Committee can be of great value to all countries wishing to take advantage of the system of interchange of teachers.
As regards publicity, the attention of university circles has been drawn to the programme of university interchanges by permanent national correspondents. Lastly, in order that recipients of grants may be informed of their origin, a letter is sent to them giving information on the university interchange programme as a whole sponsored by the Council of Europe.
(iii) Specialised curricula, introduction of " open chairs ", parallel courses
The Committee considers that the proposals contained in paragraph (iii) of Recommendation 107 should be referred to the European Universities Committee for consideration and an Opinion.
The Committee of Cultural Experts should subsequently reconsider the question in the light of the opinion received from the European Universities Committee.
(iv) Knowledge of the structure and working of international organisations in general, and of European organisations in particular
The Committee approves the principle of this Recommendation and recommends that the Committee of Ministers adopt it.
(v) Appointment of foreigners to posts as university professors
Aware of the grave difficulties encountered by certain countries in implementing this Recommendation, the Committee nevertheless recognises its value and invites the Committee of Ministers to transmit it to Member Governments with a favourable opinion.
The Committee also calls the attention of the Committee of Ministers to the advantages of giving foreigners permanent appointments in universities without necessarily appointing them to a Chair."
36. After considering the above observations, the Committee of Ministers decided to take action on the suggestions of the Committee of Cultural Experts.
38. The Committee of Ministers approved the Recommendation made by the Committee of Cultural Experts, and decided to confer the patronage of the Council of Europe upon European Schools Day, on the understanding that this would not have any budgetary implications for the Council or carry any obligation of governmental participation.
38. The Convention was signed by Austria on 13th December 1957 (see Doc. 710, paragraphs 118-121).
39. The Committee of Ministers took note of the Report of the special, meeting held in Rome by the Committee of Cultural Experts on 11th and 12th October 1957.
40. On 13th December 1957, in Paris, the Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs signed on behalf of his Government the Convention and the Protocol thereto.
41. The Convention and the Protocol thereto have to date been ratified by the following member countries : Belgium, Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Ratification procedure has begun in Austria and in France.
42. On 13th December 1957 the Secretary- General of the Council of Europe received a letter dated 3rd December 1957, by which the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway, on behalf of his Government, renewed for a further period of two years as from 9th December 1957 his country's recognition of the competence of the European Commission of Human Rights to receive individual applications (Article 25 of the Convention). The Norwegian Government originally recognised this competence on 13th December 1955 for a period of two years as from 10th December 1955.
43. To date, seven Contracting Parties (Belgium, Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden) have recognised the right of individual application to the Commission.
(i) Customs, concessions and spot checks for travellers
44. On the proposal of the Special Committee of Senior Officials for the Simplification of Frontier Formalities, the Committee of Ministers adopted on 16th November 1957, Resolution(57) 18 which reads as follows :
" The Committee of Ministers
Recommends that Member Governments :
(ii) Abolition of passenger manifests and embarkation and landing cards
45. On the proposal of the Special Committee, the Committee of Ministers, on 16th November 1957, adopted Resolution (57) 19, which reads as follows :
" The Committee of Ministers,
Having regard to Recommendation C (56) 134 Final of the OEEC Council, adopted on 27th July 1956, and Recommendation No. 13 of the European Civil Aviation Conference adopted in Madrid in May 1957, providing for the abolition of both embarkation and landing cards;
Having regard to Recommendation No. 10 of the European Civil Aviation Conference adopted in May 1957, which calls for the abolition of the formality of presenting passenger manifests for intra-European flights;
Considering that 14 European States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom) have abolished all formalities relating to the presentation of passenger manifests for intra-European flights;
Considering that several States (Austria, Belgium, Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland) have already dispensed with the need to present embarkation and landing cards, and that several others are about to do so;
Considering that the adoption of a discriminatory measure in respect of air transport does not appear to be justified when most countries are granting most extensive facilities to road and rail travellers over the same routes;
Considering that the completion of passenger manifests and, to a smaller extent, of embarkation and landing cards causes delay or inconvenience to passengers on arrival and departure;
Considering that, in pursuance of Recommendation 14 of the European Civil Aviation Conference, the use of jet aircraft carrying more passengers at greater speeds will considerably increase tourist traffic in Europe, and that consequently the continuance of these practices would result in even greater delay,
Recommends to the Governments, with due regard to measures already adopted concerning the movement of persons :
(iii) Multilateral European Agreement on the Regulations governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe
46. This Agreement was signed in Paris on 13th December 1957 by the following member countries : Austria, Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg.
47. Belgium, France and Italy having signed the Agreement without reserve in respect of ratification, the Agreement entered into force in respect of these three countries on 1st January 1958.
48. The Special Committee of Senior Officials for the Simplification of Frontier Formalities met on 28th and 29th November 1957 at San Remo. The next meeting of the Committee will be held in Athens on 3rd, 4th and 5th March 1958.
49. This Convention was signed in Paris on 13th December 1957 by the following member countries : Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Turkey.
50. It will enter into force ninety days after the deposit of the third instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
51. The Committee of Experts on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Proceedings met in Strasbourg from 4th to 13th November 1957.
52. The Committee of Ministers took note of Resolution 136 (1957) of the Assembly on the position of national minorities in Europe.
53. The Committee expressed the opinion that it would be preferable to leave to the United Nations the responsibility of continuing the examination of questions concerning national minorities.
54. This Convention was ratified by Norway on 20th November 1957 and signed by Austria on 13th December 1957.
55. It will enter into force after the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
56. This Convention was signed by Austria on 13th December 1957.
57. It will enter into force after the deposit of the second instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
58. On 28th November 1957, the Government of South Africa deposited with the Secretary- General of the Council of Europe its instrument of accession to this Convention, signed in Paris on 11th December 1953.
59. The Convention entered into force in respect of South Africa on 1st December 1957. It is already in force in the following countries : Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
60. South Africa is the second non-member country to have acceded to a Convention signed within the framework of the Council of Europe.
61. At the 21st Session of the Committee of Ministers held in Paris on 13th and 14th December 1957, M. P. Schneiter presented his Second Progress Report.
62. The Committee of Ministers examined Recommendation 149 (1957) of the Assembly concerning the Sixth Report on the activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
63. It recalls in this connection that it has already demonstrated its interest in the refugee problem, and Member Governments have always given the maximum assistance to refugees, either directly or through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to whose appeals they have responded on many occasions by contributing funds over and above the sums originally fixed.
64. After examining Recommendation 151 (1957) of the Assembly concerning the Fifth Report on the activities of the I. C. E. M., the Committee of Ministers noted that the action requested by the Consultative Assembly had already been initiated and would be continued.
65. After an exchange of views at the meeting of the Joint Committee on 13th December 1957, the Committee of Ministers adopted Resolution (57) 28 which reads as follows :
" The Committee of Ministers,
Having regard to Recommendation 138 of the Consultative Assembly on the organisation of the European Conference of Local Authorities;
Aware of the importance for the development of European co-operation, of the participation of local authorities in the European institutions,
Resolves to make the necessary arrangements for the holding of another European Conference of Local Authorities in 1958. "
66. The Committee of Ministers will shortly consider practical arrangements to give effect to this Resolution.
67. On 9th October 1957, Mr. T. Woods was appointed Permanent Representative of Ireland to the Council of Europe, to succeed Mr. B. O'Riordan.
68. At the 21st Session of the Committee of Ministers (13th and 14th December 1957), M. L. Benvenuti, the new Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, made the declaration provided for under Article 36 (c) of the Statute of the Council.
69. The Committee of Ministers examined Opinion No. 22 (1957) of the Assembly concerning Vote II of the Budget, in conjunction with the 1958 Budget of the Council of Europe. The decisions it took in this connection will shortly be communicated to the Assembly.
70. The Committee of Ministers will also re-examine the questions raised by the Assembly's request for a grant to the political groups, which formed the subject of an exchange of views at the meeting of the Joint Committee , on 13th December 1957.
71. 1957
21st-30th October
Seventh Course of European Studies (Strasbourg).
4th-13th November
Committee of Experts on Mutual
Assistance in Criminal Proceedings (Strasbourg).
12th-14th November
Governing Body of the Resettlement Fund (Paris).
14th-16th November
Working Party of the European Commission of Human Rights (Strasbourg).
14th-21st November
53rd Meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (Strasbourg).
21st-23rd November
54th Meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (Strasbourg).
25th-29th November Sixth Session of the Social Committee (Strasbourg).
28th-29th November
Special Committee of Senior Officials for the Simplification of Frontier Formalities (San Remo).
2nd-5th December
Committee of Experts on the Liability of Hotelkeepers (Strasbourg).
5th-7th December
Administrative Council of the Resettlement Fund (Paris).
12th-14th December
Working Party of the European Commission of Human Rights (Strasbourg).
12th-14th December Seventh Session of the Committee of Experts on Public Health (Strasbourg).
13tli December
Joint Committee (Paris).
13th-14th December
21st Session of the Committee of Ministers (Paris).
16th-17th December
55th Meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (Paris).
16th-21st December
Eleventh Session of the European Commission of Human Rights (Strasbourg).
1958
13th January
Committee of Experts on the Removal of Legal Impediments to the exchange of Television Programmes in Europe (Strasbourg).
72. The Committee of Ministers instructed the Secretary-General to transmit to the High Authority of E. C. S. C. Resolution 132 (1957) of the Assembly in reply to the Fifth General Report of the High Authority.
73. The Committee of Ministers took note of Resolution 133 (1957) in reply to the Fourth Report of the Common Assembly to the Consultative Assembly.
74. The Committee of Ministers took note of Resolution 138 (1957) in reply to the Third Report of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport.
75. The Committee of Ministers took note of Resolution 141 (1957) in reply to the Report of the Second Session of the European Civil Aviation Conference.
76. The Committee of Ministers took note of Resolution 137 (1957) in reply to the Fifth Report of W. H. O. on its work in Europe.
77. After a preliminary examination of Recommendation 153 (1957) of the Assembly, concerning requests for consultative status from international non-governmental organisations, the Committee of Ministers decided to transmit, for an opinion, to the Committee of Cultural Experts, the request submitted by the International Literary and Artistic Association and to the Committee of Experts on Public Health the request of the European League for Mental Hygiene.
78. The Committee of Ministers has still under consideration the other requests for consultative status referred to in the above-mentioned Recommendation.