General policy of the Council of Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 29 January 1969 (23rd and 24th Sittings) (see Doc. 2501, report of the Political Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 29 January 1969 (24th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Recalling its
Recommendation 530 of 23 September 1968 in which, after paying heartfelt tribute to the courageous resistance of the Czechoslovak population, it declared that the tragic events in Czechoslovakia created an urgent need for organised political co-operation among the European democracies;
2. Noting with concern the slowness of European unification in the political sphere;
3. Believing that the international events of the past months merely confirm the urgent need to create machinery for organised and continuous political consultation and co-operation in Europe;
4. Considering that the Council of Europe, by its very composition, can provide an appropriate framework for such political action;
5. Recalling in this connection that according to the statutory resolutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 1951, and with a view to strengthening European unity, the member states of the Council of Europe could, where appropriate, conclude new partial agreements;
6. Considering that in a certain number of fields, such as relations with other states, science and technology and monetary matters, European co-operation could be established on the basis of a partial agreement concluded more particularly in the framework of the Council of Europe;
7. Considering that this procedure would provide the required solution for organising co-operation in these fields, without resorting to the creation of new organisations;
8. Recalling, furthermore, that the Council of Europe has always been the framework for the discussion and elaboration of new initiatives towards co-operation;
9. Stressing, finally, the need to promote a new awareness among public opinion in member states, in order to ensure that the vast enterprise of unification receives widespread popular support,
10. Decides:
a to insist that member governments make full use of the possibilities which the Council of Europe offers as a system for political consultation and cooperation;
b for this purpose, to consider henceforth the conclusion of partial agreements in the fields of relations with other states; science, technology and on monetary matters, as laid down in the statutory resolutions adopted in 1951;
c to invite governments to take practical steps to reinforce all means of information, exchange and communication, so as to make public opinion more alive to the needs of the political unification of Europe;
d to instruct its Political Affairs Committee to present it with a detailed report on the contents and application of these partial agreements in order, at the appropriate time, to make precise recommendations to the Committee of Ministers.
