Reply to the Fourth General Report on the activities of the European Economic Community
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 26th September 1961 (16th Sitting) (see Docs. 1309Docs. 1309, Fourth General Report of the European Economic Community, and Doc. 1336, draft Resolution presented by the Economic Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26th September 1961 (16th Sitting).
1. Thanks the Commission of the European Economic Community for the transmission of its Fourth General Report and congratulates it and the member Governments of the Community on the success with which the Rome Treaty has been implemented in the twelve months under review;
2. Considers as evidence of the progress of the Community the acceleration of the reduction of customs duties among its member States and the first alignment of the national tariffs on the common customs tariff as well as the decision that member States shall abolish all quantitative restrictions on the imports of industrial goods from each other by 31st December 1961;
3. Welcomes the signing on 9th July 1961 of an Association Agreement between the European Economic Community and Greece;
4. Notes that, on the initiative of the Commission, the Council has taken a first step on the way to the establishment of the common commercial policy by deciding that member States shall negotiate for the inclusion of a Community clause in their bilateral commercial agreements with non-member countries;
5. Notes the work undertaken by the Community's Institutions towards the elaboration of the common agricultural policy and calls the attention of the Commission to
Recommendation 280 of the Consultative Assembly;
6. Congratulates the Commission on the progress made toward the establishment of the free movement of workers and of capital within the Community and towards the elimination of obstacles to the establishment of the Common Market;
7. Notes with interest the efforts made by the European Economic Community in the co-ordination of energy policies;
8. Notes with interest that the European Commission has continued to work on the elaboration of the regional policy to ensure the harmonious development of the Community and, in particular, raise the economic and social levels of the less-favoured regions and asks the Commission if it would agree to inviting observers of all the member States of the Council of Europe to participate in the Conference on the problems of regional economy and regional policy within the Community which it plans to hold in 1961;
9. Notes with interest that in the field of social policy the European Social Fund has now reached the stage at which it is able to play the part for which it is designed and congratulates the Commission on the successful implementation of a programme of speedy occupational training of 10,000 Italian workers for whom employment is to be found during 1961 in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands;
10. Notes with satisfaction that the gross national product for the Community as a whole increased by about 7 % in volume in 1960 as compared with 1959 and that private per capita consumption at constant price appears to have increased by 5 % and that, on the whole, price stability has been maintained;
11. Notes with satisfaction that the industrial production of the Community in 1960 exceeded that of 1959 by about 12 % and was accompanied by a 7 % increase of production per hour of work;
12. Notes that trade within the Community expanded by 24 % in volume in 1960 as compared with 1959 - a higher rate of increase than in any earlier year with a comparable industrial output - and that the volume of purchases from non-member countries increased by 21 %;
13. Agrees with the Commission's view that, considering the present trends in world business activity and in the international balance-of-payments situation, the Community should avoid excessively high balance-of-payments surpluses, and that a substantial increase in exports of public capital by the Community, particularly to the developing countries, together with a strengthened liberal commercial policy, would constitute a valuable contribution to the solution of the business cycle and balance-of-payments problems of the Western world;
14. Expresses its interest in the work of the Committee on Policy relating to Economic Trends and of the Monetary Committee and expresses the wish that these investigations may constitute a valuable contribution to the work done by the OEEC - OECD in this field;
15. Welcomes the decision of the European Economic Community to re-negotiate the arrangements with its sixteen African associates which have acceded to independence on the basis of a new mutually agreed model convention;
16. Notes with interest that the Commission is actively exploring ways and means of securing greater stability for the export earnings of the associated countries and expresses the hope that these investigations will make a positive contribution to the question of increasing the marketing possibilities of other developing countries;
17. Notes that as regards the intra-European trade issue the action of the European Economic Community has been almost wholly concentrated on its short-term problems, believes that the developments referred to in this Resolution constitute added evidence of the urgent need for all Members of the Council of Europe to seek in concert a solution of the problem of forming a single European Market and therefore welcomes the statement in the Report that the different institutions of the Community are unanimous in their intention to pursue actively the search for a final solution to the questions of the economic relations between the Community and the other European States.
