Since its last Progress Report, Doc. 970, Depuis la présentation de son dernier the Bureau lias held the following meetings : rapport d'activité, Doc. 970, le Bureau s'est 5 meetings during the first part of the Eleventh réuni sous la présidence de M. Edwards, Session, from 22nd to 27th April, a meeting in à cinq reprises, au cours de la première partie London on 5th May and one in Paris on 28th de la onzième Session, du 22 au 27 avril 1959, May, all under the chairmanship of Mr. John puis à Londres et à Paris les 5 et 28 mai, et Edwards, and, ffnally, one meeting in Paris enfin le 8 juillet à Paris, sous la présidence de on 8th July when M. Santero took the chair M. Santero, en raison de l'absence du Président in the absence of the President who was empêché pour raison de santé. prevented by illness from attending.
The Standing Committee met in London 5th May under the chairmanship of Mr. Edwards and in Paris on 8th July under the chair-manship of M. von Bismarck.
On the proposal of the Bureau, the Assembly decided on 27th April (11th sitting of the 11th Session) to hold the second part-Session from Monday, 14th September to Saturday, 19th September 1959.
On 8th July, the Standing Committe adopted the Agenda for the second part-Session, Doc. 1014.
On the same day, the Bureau drew up a draft Order of Business, which will be submitted to the Assembly for approval at the resumption of the Session.
The Agenda and draft Order of Business were sent to all members of the Assembly on 17th July 1959.
Following the ceremonial Sitting held on 20th April 1959, the day before the opening of the 11th Session, and the celebrations organ-ized the same day in Strasbourg, the British Government arranged a commemorative cere-mony at St. James's Palace, London, on 4th May. Addresses were given by the Prime Minister, Mr. Harold Macmillan, a former member of the Assembly ; by the Vice-Chairman of the Committee of Ministere» M Pierre Wigny Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs; by the Lord Chancellor Lord Kilmuir once a member of the Assembly as Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe ; by the President of the Assembly Mr. Edwards and by the Sacretary-General of the Council of Europe M. Benvenuti.
The members of the Standing Committee were invited to the ceremony,
At its meeting in London on 5th May, the Standing Committee appointed the Assem-bly s representatives on the Joint Committee, in accordance with Rule 46 of the Rules of Procedure.
Members ; Mr. Edwards (ex officio Chairman), MM, Czernetz) Federspiel, Liquard, Paul, Santero,. Struye and Yerocostopoulos.
Alternates MM. Alyot, Badini Confa-lonieri, von Bismarck, Goedhart, Heckscher, Danië Florence Horsbrugh, M. Legaret and Mr. Lynch.
On 25th Apnl (9th sitting of the 11th Session), the Assembly, at the request of M. Struye, Chairman of the Political Committee, decided to refer to the Standing Committee the Political Committee's Report (Doc. 989) of the Gommunication from the Committee of Ministers, Doc. 987, and also the two amendments which had been submitted to Doc 989.
At its meeting in London on 5th May, the Standing Committee examined the Political Committee s Report, presented by M. Struye, and the two amendments submitted respectively by M. de la Vallée Poussin and Sir James Hutchison.
It decided to detach paragraph 3 of the draft Resolution, concerning the transfer to the Council of Europe of W, E. U. s cultural and social activities, and to refer it to the Political Committee, together with Amendment No, 2 submitted by Sir James Hutchison,
The text adopted by the Standing Committee (Resolution 170) is a compromise between the draft Resolution presented by the Political Committee and M, de la Vallée Poussin ' s Amendment No, 1.
In pursuance of paragraph 2 of Resolution 170, the Secretary-Generalwas instructed, as the agent to both the Assembly and the Commitee of Ministers, to write to M. Max Petitpierre, Head of the Political Department of the Swiss Federal Council, and to M, Marcelo Mathias, Ministerfor Foreign Affairs of Portugal, to invite Swiss and Portuguese Parliamen-tarians. "to take part in the Assembly 's debates on OEEC reports and on economic questions , The letter is appended to this report (Appendix I), An acknowledgment has been received from M. Petitpierre which is also appended (Appendix II).
The President of the Assembly was informed on 7th May 1959 by Senator J. W. Fulbright, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate, that his Committee had favourably çpnsidered the invitation of the Consultative Assembly to hold a second Strasbourg Conference in the autumn of 1959 between delegations from the Consultative Assembly, the Canadian Par-liament and the United States Congress. The Senate subsequently adopted Concurrent Resolution 23 but there were delays while the matter was pending before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. Eventually the following telegram was received from Mr. Carl Marcy Chief of Staff of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on 13th August 1959 ; "On behalf of Chairman Morgan of House Foreign Affairs Committee and Chairman Fulbright of Senate Foreign Relations Committee I regret to inform you that it seems unlikely that action will be completed this session of Congress which would enable the United States Congress to accept your kind invitation to attend a second Strasbourg Conference "
In a letter to the President dated 25th May 1959, the Hon. Roland Michener, Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, informed him that his own hopes of sending a delegation had to be abandoned when a renewed request for funds was rejected by the Canadian Treasury Board. Mr. Michener had, however, asked whether Canada might be represented by a parliamentary or govern-mental observer if the Conference took place.
At its meeting in Paris on 8th July 1959, the Standing Committee was informed of two Notes Verbales sent to the Secretary-General by the United xvingdom Permanent Representative; one, dated 25th May 1959, concerns a derogation from the Convention on Human Rights in respect of Nyasaland and the other dated 19th June 1959, states that the Convention is again fully in force in Cyprus.
Following the negotiations with the Committee of Ministers, Undertaken by the Bureau of the Assembly with a view to securing the Mimsters agreement to Assembly sessions being held elsewhere than at Strasbourg the President of the Assembly has received the following letter from the Chairman of the Mimsters Deputies :
Strasbourg, 6th July 1959.
Dear Mr. President,
Since the last meeting of the Joint Committee the Committee of Ministers have again looked into the matter of Assembly sessions away from Strasbourg.
In view of Article 33 of the Statute which states that ordinary sessions of the Consultative Assembly shall be held at the seat of the Council unless both the Assembly and the Committee of Mimsters concur that the sessions should be held elsewhere", the Committee of Ministers was obliged to note that sessions outside Strasbourg could only be viewed as exceptions.
Considering furthermore that any request on the part of the Assembly to meet away from Strasbourg raises many problems, including financial ones, the. Committee of Ministers felt unable to give a general under-taking.
The Ministers are fully conscious, however, that there may occasionally be valid reasons for holding meetings of the Assembly elsewhere and are therefore prepared to give careful consideration to any specihc request to this effect.
Yours sincerely,
igned : REICHMANN Chairman of the Ministers Deputies
At its meeting of 5th May 1959, the Standing Committee referred Doc. 1003 on the social activities of W. E. U. to the Social Committee (Reference No. 273) and Doc. 1004 to the Cultural Committee (Reference No. 274)
At its meeting on 8th July 1959, the Standing Committee referred M. Vos motion for a Resolution on road accidents, Doc. 1009, to the Economic Committee (Reference No, 275).
he Bureau gave its consent, in accordance with paragraph 3 of the rules adopted by the Standing Committee on 12th February 1955, for the following meetings to be held away from Strasbourg and Paris :
a Sub-committee of the Committee on Local Authonties in Berlin, from 17th to 23rd June 1959;
various Sub-committees of the Legal Committee, in Brussels, on 3rd and 4th July and in Rome on 6th and 7th July 1959;
the Pohtical Committee, m Brussels on 10th and 11th July 1959;
the Cultural Committee, in Copen-hagen on 11th and 13th July 1959;
the Committee on non-represented Nations, in Berlin on 13th and 14th July 1959;
the Cultural Committee, in London, on 4th and 5th September 1959.
Strasbourg, 21st June 1959
Sir,
On 20th April 1959, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe proposed to the Consultative Assembly, as a preliminary means of strengthemng the links between the 0. E. E. C. and the Council of Europe, that Members of Par-hament from OEEC countries not Members of the Council of Europe should be invited to take part in the debates of the Assembly on the reports of 0. E. E.. C. and economic questions.
Subsequently, on 5th May, the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, agreed to this proposal and instructed the Bureau to work out, in agreement with the Committee of Ministers, appropriate measures to achieve this purpose.
Following discussions between the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly, I am now authonsed by the Committee of Ministers and the Consultative Assembly to convey through you an invitation to the (Swiss or Portuguese) Parlia-ment to appoint Representatives to attend the above-mentioned debates of the Assembly.
I shall accordingly be grateful if you will be so good as to let me have your views in due course. If, as the Council of Europe hopes, the answer is favourable, the details of such arrangements as are required to implement this proposal can be worked out when mutually convenient between the (Swiss or Portuguese) Parliament and the Assembly.
I have the honour to be,
Sir, our obedient servant,
Signed: Lodovico BENVENUTI
Berne, 13th July 1959.
Dear Mr. Secretary-General,
You transmitted to me, in your letter of the 21st June 1959, the invitation of the Committee of Ministers and of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe to the Swiss Federal Chambers to appoint Representatives who would attend the debates of the Assembly concerning the acti-vities of the 0. E. E. C. and, in general, economic problems.
As you will realise, tins question requires detailed consideration on our part. Indeed, we began to study the matter some time ago.
As soon as I am able to do so, I will inform you of the decisions reached. Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and the President of the Assembly how much we appreciate the spirit of generous co-operation in wlvich the invitation has been made.
Yours sincerely,
Signed : Max PETITPIERRE .