The Assembly,
4. The Assembly welcomes the continued progress of economic co-operation in OECD. It believes that the machinery set up in OECD for consultations and confrontations at Government level to deal with the manifold economic problems of the industrial countries in their relations with one another and with other parts of the world is a great asset, and hopes that Governments will avail themselves of it far more actively in the future with a view to co-ordinating their economic and development policies. It is also gratified to see that OECD is simultaneously developing into the principal centre of theoretical and applied research concerning the problems raised by the ever closer economic interdependence of the industrial nations and by the rapidly changing relationships between different sectors of the economy.
5. The Assembly notes with concern that, although the rate of economic growth in the OECD area as a whole in 1964 was satisfactory, economic activity in some countries of Western Europe slowed down noticeably in the latter part of that year, and earnestly hopes that the levelling off and decline of production and investments will be watched very carefully. It notes that a number of member countries are experiencing difficulties in combining balance-of-payments equilibrium and internal stability with sustained growth, and believes that the policy instruments to which Governments at present have recourse for the purpose of stabilising the economy in periods of inflation need to be improved.
6. The Assembly notes with satisfaction the interest now taken by OECD in international monetary problems, and welcomes the decision of the Council of OECD to reexamine the role which the European Monetary Agreement could play in the framework of the international monetary system.
7. The Assembly welcomes the valuable work done in OECD to survey the problems of structural change which present themselves in different branches of industry and strongly supports the view that these studies should take into account the growing export requirements not least in manufactures of the developing countries. It considers that the closest co-operation between Governments is indispensable in implementing their readaptation policies and in elaborating their trade policies vis-à-vis the less developed countries.
The Assembly :
8. Reaffirms its support for the Development Assistance Committee of OECD and notes with satisfaction that, due to its efforts, considerable progress has been made in co-ordinating the policies of member States in technical matters and in the efficiency of aid-giving ;
9. Welcomes Austria's recently announced membership of this Committee ;
10. Considers that the countries which mobilise their own resources, however limited these may be, within the framework of properly supervised development plans deserve to be given priority in the allocation of aid, not only because they utilise it in a more efficient way, but above all because in this way they demonstrate their will to achieve their development through their own efforts ;
11. Considers that Governments should complement the discussions of economic development aspects of aid policy which are held in DAC, particularly on the indispensable development of commercial relations, by dealing with the other aspects of co-operation with newly developing countries ;
12. Hopes that member Governments of OECD which do not at present do so will agree to make provision for money to be devoted to assistance purposes in their national budgets thus enabling them to reduce the debt burden by decreasing the interest rate on loans and lengthening the repayment period ;
13. Considers that the amount of financial aid, public and private, should be increased or at least maintained, notably in multilateral form ;
14. Considering that, in many cases, the inefficiency of aid is due to the inexperience of senior staff, emphasises the need to give priority to the efforts undertaken in the fields of education and cultural and technical training ;
15. Emphasises the overwhelming importance of agriculture in the development of a large number of countries ; methods aimed equally at improving production and at adapting people to new conditions of work must be implemented both in the technical and social spheres ;
16. Considers that a policy of education concerning birth-rate designed to protect the dignity of the individual and the freedom of the family should be encouraged in the regions of the world in which an excessively rapid population increase might endanger social and economic progress.
17. The Assembly notes with satisfaction that OECD is laying more and more stress on aligning agricultural policies and economic growth policies and considers that member Governments should seek by all means to realise an internationally concerted reorientation of agricultural policies, this being the only approach that has prospects of leading to a more balanced structure of the European economy and orderly conditions in international trade. It therefore notes OECD's decision to carry out a new general review of agricultural policies of member Governments.
18. The Assembly urges member Governments to give due weight in the general OECD review of agricultural policies to the conclusions of last year's OECD Study on Low Incomes in Agriculture and trusts that the report on agriculture and economic growth will also be helpful in this context in working out a new set of agreed principles and guide-lines for the shaping and implementation of their agricultural policies.
19. The Assembly notes that the Study on the Inter-relationship between Income and Supply Problems in Agriculture will be made available to the Council of Europe later this year and proposes to make this Study the subject of a separate reply in due course.
The Assembly,
20. Reaffirming the important role of manpower policy as an instrument of economic growth ;
21. Recalling that, in its Resolution 277 (1964), it strongly urged OECD to embark upon an active manpower policy and at the same time made certain suggestions ;
22. Noting with satisfaction that of recent months OECD has intensified its action with a view to bringing it more closely into line with the indications given in its preceding report,
23. Notes with keen interest the fact that the Governments of the OECD member countries intend to inform that Organisation during the course of 1965 of the way in which they have given effect to the Council's Recommendation on manpower policy adopted on 21st May 1964 ;
24. Requests OECD to include in its next year's report a statement of the results of the action taken by its member Governments, based on the information supplied to it by them during 1965 ;
25. Hopes that a delegation comprising members of its committees concerned may be invited to attend the Conference on the social aspects of automation which OECD plans to organise in Europe.
The Assembly,
26. Observing that on this occasion the OECD Report includes, along with details of the activities of that Organisation, the text of what is in effect a separate document, namely an information note on the activities of the Ministerial Meeting on Science ;
27. Aware of the increasing importance of science policy problems, as manifested by the Ministerial Meeting ;
28. Recalling its own intention, as expressed in Resolution 284, of organising a periodic debate for the purpose of examining the implications of these problems for the countries which are Members of the Council of Europe,
29. Takes this opportunity of making it clear that the intention of the periodic debate envisaged by the said Resolution is in no sense to duplicate the work of the Ministerial Meeting, but rather to provide, at the widest possible European level, that parliamentary response to the work of the Ministerial Meeting which is necessary for the successful implementation of a science policy both in the national and in the European sense ;
30. Accordingly, while taking note of this part of the OECD Report, reserves the right to discuss it in detail within the context of the Assembly's next cultural and scientific debate which is due to be held in September 1965, on which occasion it will invite the Chairman-in-Office of the Ministerial Meeting to comment on the origins, the achievements and the future prospects of the Meeting, seen as a new instrument of international co-operation ;
31. Congratulates OECD on its new achievements in the scientific field ;
32. Records its conviction of the necessity for continued co-operation and increased co-ordination between the activities of OECD on the one hand and those of the Council for Cultural Co-operation on the other hand, especially in those fields which, by their very nature, allow of no strict and absolute dividing line between the spheres of competence of these two bodies ;
33. Expresses its regret at the fact that the final report of the 2nd Parliamentary and Scientific Conference, which is to be published by OECD, is still not available in the English version ;
34. Hopes to receive that version as soon as possible, in order that the final report may be given the widest possible circulation in European Parliaments, as decided on 11th June 1964 when the Assembly's Order No. 233 contemplated the distribution by the Assembly of the final report of the Conference to all members of the Consultative Assembly and all interested members of the national Parliaments of the member States of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament ;
35. Expresses its conviction that the task of bringing home, to parliamentary and public opinion throughout Europe, the utility and indeed the necessity of the concept of "science policy" at both the national and the international level is one which calls for the closest co-operation between the various interested international organisations whatever their particular spheres of competence and whatever their membership ; and
36. In this connection is gratified to record once again the close and fruitful collaboration existing between OECD and the Council of Europe.