Second General Report of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community

Opinion 8 (1954)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

This Opinion was adopted by the Assembly at its Third Sitting, on 21st May, 1954 (see Doc. 242,Report of the Committees on General Affairs, on Economic Questions, and on Social Questions).

The Assembly,

Having taken note of the Second General Report of the High Authority and of the debate held thereonin the Second Joint Meeting of the two Assemblies ;

Welcoming the intention of the Common Assembly to submit to it a full Report of its activities ;

Reserving its right to examine and reply to the two Reports in greater detail during the second part ofthe Sixth Ordinary Session,

Adopts the following texts for immediate communication to the Common Assembly :

Chapter II, Part I : Association with Great Britain

Taking note with great satisfaction of the impending departure for the United Kingdom of thedelegation of the High Authority ;

Expressing its appreciation of the constructive approach to the question shown by the HighAuthority ;

Recalling the words of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in August, 1952, when itwas decided to accredit a delegation to the High Authority with "the task of laying the foundations foran intimate and enduring association between the Community and the United Kingdom",

Fervently hopes that the spirit of these words will inspire the course of the forthcoming decisions.

Chapters III and IV

The Assembly, having noted :

a that trade in coal within the Community has shown an increase since the establishment of thecommon market, and that at the same time exports from the States members of theCommunity to other Member States of the Council of Europe have increased ;

b that trade in steel within the Community has increased in the past year, while the volume ofexports has remained stable ;

c that the general trend of world prices in coal and steel has, to a greater extent than before theestablishment of the common market, been reflected in price developments within theCommunity ;

d that the efforts of the High Authority to eliminate discriminatory practices, particularly inrespect of transport, have been successful ;

e that the High Authority has taken the initiative of extending by association, or otherwise, thefunction of a common market, with the object of reducing or eliminating restrictive measureswhich hamper the coal trade, as well as seeking the reduction or elimination of quantitativerestrictions and customs duties on steel,

1. Notes with satisfaction the international confidence extended to the common market, by thegranting of credit facilities from the United States ;

2. Stresses the necessity of the further development of free and unrestricted trade in coal and steel,not only within the Coal and Steel Community, but between the Member States of the Coal and SteelCommunity and other countries. - With this object in view the High Authority should devote the closest attention to the continuedelimination of any tendency to discriminatory practices in any form, and should continue its efforts toharmonise the tariff policies of the Member States at the lowest possible level. - In this connection, too, the Assembly calls attention to the provisions in Chapter I of the Second Partof the Transitional Convention of 18th April, 1951, and - while appreciating the initiative taken bythe High Authority, particularly vis-à-vis the United Kingdom Government, and countries such asAustria and Switzerland - calls the attention of the High Authority and Member Governments of theCouncil of Europe to the importance of these provisions ;

3. Expresses its concern that the High Authority and the Member Governments of the European Coaland Steel Community should strictly abide by the provisions of Article 65 of the Coal and SteelTreaty, and urges the High Authority to define, as soon as possible, its policy with regard to cartelsand monopolistic organisations within the Community ;

4. Trusts that the High Authority will take measures to prevent the development of transport ratescalculated to prevent the free import of coal and steel into the Community ;

5. Takes note of the work to which the High Authority has already set its hand, in liaison with the sixMember Governments, in the matter of harmonisation and co-ordination of transport, an undertakingwhich complies exactly with the past recommendations of the Assembly in the field of transport ;

6. Welcomes the initiative taken within the Community to intensify industrial and economic research,and trusts that the results obtained thereby will be made available to all Members of the Council ofEurope on a basis of reciprocity.

Chapter V

Chapter V of the Second General Report of the High Authority marks a considerable advance uponthe previous Report, which showed that the High Authority had scarcely begun to take action in thesocial field.

As regards the re-employment of labour, the High Authority has already received three requests foraction. One of these, involving the transfer and re-employment of 5,000 miners, has received afavourable reply from the High Authority, which has undertaken in accordance with the stipulationscontained in the Treaty to meet half the costs.

As regards workers' housing, the High Authority has prepared a schedule of contributions for apreliminary building programme of 1,000 workers' dwellings. Furthermore, M. Monnet informed theCommon Assembly in his speech of 12th May that the appropriations set aside for this project wouldshortly be raised from 1 to 25 million dollars - an increase which will enable 25,000 workers'dwellings to be built.

As for technical training and the health and safety of workers, exchanges and general progress willno longer be hampered by language barriers and lack of information. The research of the HighAuthority into wages and terms of employment, on the one hand, and into the manpower situation, onthe other, is now sufficiently advanced to supply preliminary comparisons of the various data for thesix member countries of the E.C.S.C. This comparative study of available figures may be regarded asthe groundwork for a system of European social statistics.

Whatever may be the interest with which the Consultative Assembly is following the developmentsmentioned in the previous paragraph, it attaches particular importance to the progress being made bythe High Authority towards the free movement of labour. It is glad to note that the steps contemplatedby the High Authority cover not only skilled labour but all workers in the two industries. Thisquestion is also closely linked with social security problems, which bulk large in the work of theCouncil of Europe in social matters. Any advance by the High Authority in this field may wellfacilitate the future work of the Council of Europe. Indeed, the Committee of Experts on SocialSecurity appointed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided at its seventhsession (23rd to 27th March, 1954) to await the decisions of the High Authority as regards socialsecurity for the families of migrant workers and a general multilateral convention on social security.That these two problems will be reconsidered in the light of the work and decisions of the HighAuthority provides evidence of the interdependence of an important range of problems being settledat Luxembourg and Strasbourg, and the progress of E.C.S.C. in this matter cannot but facilitate thetask of the Council of Europe in continuing its efforts in the social field.

The Consultative Assembly was glad to have had the opportunity of holding an exchange of views with the High Authority, through its Committee on Social Questions, in the course of a meeting heldat Luxembourg on 29th January, 1954. By agreeing to these discussions, the High Authority provedits willingness to bear in mind the interdependence of some of the social problems faced by the twoOrganisations in their respective spheres. The Consultative Assembly looks upon this as a first steptowards the pursuit of a common policy, which cannot fail to case the solution of such interdependentproblems.