Assembly debate on 21 April 1970 (6th Sitting) (see Doc. 2758, report of the Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities). Text adopted by the Assembly on 21 April 1970 (6th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Having noted the report of the Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities (Doc. 2758) on the European Conservation Conference and the final Declaration adopted by the latter ;
2. Welcoming the opportunity afforded to the parliamentary organ of the Council of Europe to be associated with the work of the Conference and to make its contribution thereto ;
3. Approving the guidelines for a European policy for the management of the natural environment of Europe set forth in the Conference Declaration ;
4. Convinced of the need to act swiftly at all levels on the conclusions of the Conference as formulated in its final Declaration, and desirous of fully playing its parliamentary role in the European context in order to promote the implementation of the measures proposed in the Declaration ;
5. Recalling its Recommendation 586 on the Council of Europe activities on nature conservation and the protection of amenities, and in particular its paragraph 11,
6. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers take speedy action on the proposals in the Declaration on the natural environment of Europe, in particular the following ones to which the Assembly attaches special importance :
a to convene a ministerial conference having, inter alia, the task of reviewing the activities of intergovernmental organisations in Europe dealing with this question and of making recommendations for a better co-ordination and division of work between them ;
b to create a European authority, preferably by the appointment of a ''High Commissioner" responsible for supervising and guiding activities relating to protection of the natural environment and amenities at European level ;
c to redefine the role and structures of the Council of Europe in this field, with due regard to Recommendation 586 ;
d to establish a clear ministerial responsibility at national level, and an effective system of co-ordination ;
e to ask the European Conference of Local Authorities to work out common principles for the guidance of local authorities, having regard to the decisive part which they are required to play in implementing a specific and effective policy for the management of the environment.
