Reply to the 10th General Report of the High Authority of ECSC
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 25th September 1962 (17th Sitting) (see Docs. 1460Docs. 1460, 10th General Report of the High Authority of ECSC, and 1467, draft Resolution of the Economic Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 25th September 1962 (17th Sitting).
1. The Assembly thanks the High Authority for the transmission of its 10th General Report on the activities of the European Coal and Steel Community.
2. The Assembly agrees with the High Authority that the applications by the United Kingdom and several other European countries to join the European Economic Community likewise mark a turning-point in the Coal and Steel Community's history, and the Assembly welcomes the British application for membership in the ECSC and trusts that it will be favourably considered.
3. The Assembly notes that British membership of the ECSC would bring the combined coal production of the Community to above the coal output of either the USA or the USSR and that the enlarged Community's iron and steel production would reach the same level as that of the USA and a level considerably higher than that of the USSR ; it considers that, as the biggest unit in world steel production, the enlarged ECSC will have a great responsibility for developments in the world steel market.
4. The Assembly is encouraged to note the statement by the High Authority to the effect that the 1954 Association Agreement between the ECSC and the United Kingdom has facilitated the adjustment of steel tariffs closer to a common level, and hopes that this situation will facilitate British membership in the ECSC.
5. The Assembly is happy to note that the High Authority points out, at a time when negotiations are also starting with coal consumer countries, that the ECSC Treaty was framed with the object of ensuring a balance between the interests of the producer and the consumer sides, and it regards this fact as promising well for successful and speedy negotiations with these countries.
6. The Assembly is encouraged by, and supports the view of, the High Authority that the United Kingdom is well placed to assist in the difficult debates on the coordination of energy policies ; and it ventures, in this connection, to call the attention of the High Authority to the debate on European Energy Problems due to take place in the Consultative Assembly in the autumn of 1962.
7. The Assembly agrees with the High Authority that it is important to work out specific criteria for the evaluation of application for assistance within its investment financing policy, but recommends to the High Authority that no final decision should be reached before the new European applicant States have become Members of the ECSC.
8. The Assembly is of the opinion that it is of the greatest importance that, when the High Authority sets its general objectives for coal, the question of working out a long-term overall co-ordinated European energy policy should be borne in mind, and special attention should be paid to the danger of importing hard and liquid fuels from Eastern European countries.
9. The Assembly is of the opinion, finally, that a common market for all energy sources should gradually come into existence, and wishes to express the conviction that a closer co-ordination of energy policies is of great importance for the prosperous and harmonious development of the economy of Western Europe.
10. The Assembly welcomes the fact that the High Authority will co-operate closely with the European Parliament in elaborating its policies.
