Scientific and technological co-operation between the countries of Europe

Order 357 (1976)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 5 May 1976 (4th Sitting) (see Doc. 3772, report of the Committee on Science and Technology). Text adopted by the Assembly on 5 May 1976 (4th Sitting).

Thesaurus

The Assembly,

1. Having regard to its Order No. 346 (1974), whereby national delegations to conferences on security and cooperation in Europe were invited to take account of work by existing European parliamentary organisations in their contributions to the activities of these conferences ;

2. Stressing that, in its Order No. 352 (1975), it reiterated its constant readiness to contribute to constructive East-West co-operation, and invited its competent committees concerned with the various items on the CSCE agenda to undertake a careful analysis of the final conference document and to report back to the Assembly ;

3. Believing that in the context of international cooperation there is a fundamental difference between economic and commercial exchanges and scientific co-operation : while economic and commercial exchanges are often conditioned by short-term considerations, scientific and technical co-operation has a specific character and fosters relations between the states by virtue of its very scope ;

4. Emphasising that scientific co-operation helps to improve the well-being of peoples by enabling mankind to take ever greater advantage of the resources which research in the various countries places at its disposal ;

5. Having regard to the need for as full a knowledge as possible of research being done in the various countries if man is to make valid and effective use of natural and industrial resources, while avoiding pollution hazards ;

6. Believing that scientific co-operation enables research workers, scientists and technicians to meet, get to know one another and establish working relationships, thereby contributing to an exchange of information and ideas, a source of mutual enrichment ;

7. Stressing that the Final Act of Helsinki should give a fresh impetus to scientific and technical co-operation, and encourage numerous initiatives ;

8. Considering that, if such co-operation is to be made as effective as possible, it should be remembered that agreements have always yielded their most tangible results in a state-to-state context- for instance, in the nuclear physics field, the Franco-Soviet agreement on controlled fusion and the industrial agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the USSR ;

9. Considering that the Council of Europe, whose province, according to its Statute, does not include defence matters, and which accordingly lies outside military alliances and includes neutral countries among its Members, [(1) 'Matters relating to national defence do not fall within the scope of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe accordingly has nothing to do with NATO : otherwise it would not have been possible for the three neutral states, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, to become Members.' (Karl Czernetz, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in Forward in Europe, No. 4/1975.)]can play an important part in consolidating co-operation, détente and peace in Europe,

10. Requests its Committee on Science and Technology, in conjunction with its Legal Affairs Committee and its Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, to study the problem of the sharing of patents and the granting of licences as part of co-operation between socialist countries and Council of Europe member states ;

11. Instructs its Committee on Science and Technology to continue and intensify its efforts to establish regular contacts between officials in charge of scientific affairs in Western and Eastern Europe, and to enable research workers from socialist countries to attend specialised scientific conferences or seminars, so as to be in a better position to study and encourage the development of scientific and technical co-operation in Europe.