- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 26 April 1977 (2nd Sitting) (see Doc. 3947, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 April 1977 (2nd Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Taking note of the report of its Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (
Doc. 3947) ;
2. Deeply concerned at the meagre development prospects of most developing countries, in particular the least developed and the most populous ;
3. Being of the opinion that the urgent need to combat poverty effectively in the third world calls for a reform of the international economic order ;
4. Deploring the fact that official development assistance of the member countries of the Development Assistance Committee of OECD (DAC) has decreased in real terms during the last decade, despite a recent improvement in the performance of some of these countries ;
5. Drawing attention to the increase in official development assistance by some Members of the Organisation of Petrol Exporting Countries (OPEC) and China, and the persistently modest effort of the industrialised countries of Eastern Europe ;
6. Believing that North-South solidarity is a prerequisite for the long-term peaceful survival of all countries ;
7. Emphasising that North-South co-operation should be among the highest priorities in the foreign policy of Council of Europe countries ;
8. Regretting that the 4th Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and, so far, the Paris Conference on International Economic Co-operation have not produced any major substantive results,
9. Calls on the governments of both developed and developing countries to make every effort to reach reciprocal commitments for reducing gross inequalities in income distribution amongst and within all countries ;
10. Calls on the Council of Europe member states concerned to keep their development cooperation programmes under review, with a view to drawing up more complementary and comprehensive policies, thus promoting :
a with regard to trade and industrialisation :
access to their markets for exports from developing countries by a gradual and continuous improvement of their Generalised Systems of Preferences for industrial products ;
a parallel and gradual restructuring of domestic industries as necessary, in order to take account of the effects on employment of the competition from developing countries ;
the redress of the gross imbalance in industrial production between developed and developing countries, by supporting the work of UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) ;
an early agreement- in the framework of UNCTAS- on an integrated commodity programme ;
b with regard to aid and finance :
a gradual and continuous increase in official development assistance, with a view to reaching a substantial increase at the end of this decade, in particular in those countries which are far below the target of 0.70% of GNP ;
a greater concentration of official aid in favour of the least privileged sections of the population in developing countries, so as to meet their basic needs within a reasonable limit of time ;
investment in the third world, while respecting the essential objectives of economic and social progress in host countries ;
c c. with regard to institutional matters :
a major reform- in the framework of the current multilateral trade negotiations of GATT- of the basic rules governing international trade in a spirit of solidarity between developed and developing countries ;
the early revision of the economic and development competences of the United Nations and its agencies, with a view to rendering them more responsive to the needs and aspirations of poor countries ;
11. Urges all countries concerned to halt the arms race and to use the resources thus freed for development assistance ;
12. Invites all DAC countries which are not Members of the European Communities, in as far as they have not yet done so, to extend their Generalised System of Preferences to the following Council of Europe member states : Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Turkey ;
13. Calls on the developed countries of Eastern Europe to increase their efforts in favour of developing countries, in particular by increasing adequately their official assistance and facilitating the access of exports of developing countries to their markets ;
14. Resolves to organise a symposium on development co-operation, in consultation with OECD, with the participation of members of the Parliamentary Assembly and parliamentarians particularly concerned with development cooperation from all DAC member countries.
