Chapter III of the Special Message from the Committee of Ministers dealing with the Social Programme of the Council of Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- This Opinion was adopted by the Ansembly at its 10th Sitting, on 28th May, 1954 (see Doc. 252,Report of the Committee on Social Questions).
1. The Assembly has studied with great care Chapter III of the Special Message from the Committeeof Ministers, which contains proposals for a programme of action in the social field. - It wishes to convey to the Committee of Ministers its great appreciation of this valuable initiative,which goes a long way to meet the point of view of the Assembly.
2. The Assembly recalls that it has on various occasions expressed its opinion on a common policy insocial matters : first in
Recommendation 14 of 1951 ; then in
Recommendation 27 of 1952 on thecreation of a Social Committee, and, most recently, in
Opinion No. 5 of 1953. Moreover, it hasadopted Recommendations on various specific social questions, such as, for example, housing.
3. The Assembly has, therefore, examined the proposals concerning social questions in the light ofthese earlier Recommendations and of
Opinion No. 5. It has noted that the proposed programmecontains a number of items which correspond to a large extent, although not completely, to viewsexpressed by the Assembly, as also some items which are new and based directly on suggestionsmade by various Governments. The Assembly has, therefore, first undertaken a comparison betweenthe proposed programme and its own views as expressed in various Recommendations, andparticularly in
Opinion No. 5 of 1953. Then it has examined the new proposals separately.
COMPARISON BETWEEN OPINION No. 5 OF 1953 AND THE PROPOSEDPROGRAMME
4. The Assembly notes with satisfaction that most of the ideas contained in
Opinion No. 5Noteare alsoincluded in the Special Message. It hopes that the establishment of a European Social Charter maybe initiated without delay, since it attaches great importance to the creation of such a Charter.
5. The procedure proposed by the Assembly for the speedy abolition of discrimination betweennationals of the Members of the Council of Europe in the social field, namely to draw up, as a first step, a comparative table showing the present extent of discrimination, has not been adopted by theCommittee of Ministers. The Assembly agrees that the conclusion of the Convention on ReciprocalTreatment of Nationals may go some way to solve this problem. It wishes, however, again to stressthe importance of its speedy solution and hopes that the Committee of Ministers will keep thisconstantly in mind. - The special questions of the social security rights of the families of migrant workers and theconclusion of a multilateral convention on social security are not mentioned in the Special Message.The Assembly understands, however, from the Fifth Report of the Committee of Ministers that thesequestions are on the Agenda of the Committee of Experts on Social Security. It realises that they aredifficult of solution and that it may be an advantage to await the results obtained within theframework of the European Coal and Steel Community.
6. With regard to harmonisation of social legislation, there is no particular mention in the SpecialMessage of the co-ordination of legislation in the stage of preparation and the "parallel legislation"referred to in
Opinion No. 5. It is, however, possible to interpret the Special Message, andparticularly point (c) of the proposed terms of reference of the Social Committee, so as to permit ofsuch action.
7. The question of comparability of social statistics is not included in the social programme proposedin the Special Message. The Assembly can, however, agree with the view expressed in the Report ofthe Committee of Ministers that this highly technical question should on the whole be left to thetechnical organisations specially equipped to deal with it. The Assembly appreciates the fact that theCommittee of Ministers has taken the initiative of asking the Member Governments to ratifyInternational Labour Convention No. 63 on Statistics of Wages and Hours of Work.
8. The Assembly appreciates particularly the creation of a Social Committee composed of seniorofficials of the appropriate national Government Departments. This will greatly facilitate andstimulate the future social work of the Council of Europe and secure its continuity. The Assemblyconsiders that, on the whole, the proposed terms of reference of the Social Committee aresatisfactory, although they differ somewhat from what was suggested in
Recommendation 27 (1952).The main thing is that the new committee shonld be left a certain latitude to make suggestions of itsown to the Committee of Ministers. The Assembly would, however, like to see included in the termsof reference the last item proposed in
Recommendation 27 (1952), which reads as follows : - "To keep the Committee on Social Questions of the Consultative Assembly as fully informed aspossible of the progress of its work." - It is important that the new committee should work in as close liaison as possible with the Assemblyand its Committee on Social Questions. The Assembly, therefore, is of the opinion that joint meetingsof the two committees should be held from time to time.
EXAMINATION OF THE NEW PROPOSALS
9. Employment of the older worker - Much consideration has lately been given to this question by Governments as well as by internationalorganisations, It is studied both from the point of view of national economy - to utilise the economicvalue in skill and experience of older people as long as possible and if socially and economicallydesirable ; and from the social point of view, in relation to the individual worker. It is particularly thislatter aspect which, in the opinion of the Assembly, should be stressed by the Council of Europe in itssocial programme. The possibility should be opened for older workers to continue their work if theyso desire, through an appropriate organisation of the working processes, so that the skill of theseworkers can be utilised, with due consideration to their physical abilities and without danger ofoverstrain. They should, however, not be forced to continue their work by any direct or indirectmeans, such as, for example, by the raising of the ordinary pensionable age. The question of theretirement age is included in the Agenda of the European Regional Conference which theInternational Labour Organisation will be convening towards the end of this year. The results of thatConference will, doubtless, be of value to the Council of Europe in its own approach to the question.
10. Full Employment - The Assembly recalls that it has already adopted three Recommandations on a common policy forfull employment, namely :
Recommendation 25 (1950),
Recommendation 5 (1951) and
Recommendation 10 (1951). Present trends in world economy seem to give added importance to awell planned policy of full employment, and the Assembly wholeheartedly supports the further studyof this important question.
11. Vocational Training - The Assembly notes that the Committee of Ministers places special emphasis on the vocationalrehabilitation of adult workers. The Assembly is aware of the fact that the whole question ofvocational training is being studied by various other international organisations. It wishes to drawparticular attention to International Labour
Recommendation No. 88, concerning the vocationaltraining of adults, including disabled persons. This Recommendation, which was adopted by theInternational Labour Conference in 1950, contains a special chapter on international co-operation inthe training of adults. It might well serve as a basis for the work of the Council of Europe in this field.The Assembly wishes, however, in this connection to stress the importance of vocational training alsofor young persons. It is of the opinion that the study of the general question should not be limited tovocational rehabilitation of adult workers.
12. Social problems of youth - In the belief that young people - the age-group between school children and adult workers - are inspecial need of social protection and vocational training, the Assembly emphasises that this problemis all the more important because in many countries demographic statistics point to a marked increasein the number of young persons during tho next ten years.
13. Adjustment of the individual to the new conditions resulting from the growth ofindustrialisation - During the Third Part of its Fifth Session, in September, 1953, the Assembly placed a similarquestion on its Agenda and referred it to the Committee on Social Questions. The Motion concerningthis was contained in
Doc. 212of the Fifth Ordinary Session, which envisaged a collaborationbetween national social research institutes for the establishment of a method of research givingparticular attention to man as an individual and to the family as such. - The Assembly notes with satisfaction that the Committee of Ministers has decided to await theopinion of the Assembly on this question. It will in due course submit its Recommendation in thisconnection.
14. Assistance in the event of disasters - Since speed is often one of the decisive factors in the efficiency of such assistance, the Assemblyagrees that it will be expedient to study the possibility of providing for a scheme by which theassistance to a country, victim of a disaster, could enter into operation quickly and automatically,without, however, precluding spontaneous action on the part of the peoples themselves.
15. Public Health - It is with particular satisfaction that the Assembly welcomes these proposals. Since the negotiationsfor the creation of a "White Pool" have so far not led to positive results, it is important that theCouncil of Europe should realise some progress in that direction. - The Assembly has taken note of the letter of 23rd March, 1954 from the Director of the RegionalOffice for Europe of the World Health Organisation, and it wishes to express its appreciation of thereadiness of that Organisation to co-operate with the Council of Europe. The Assembly agrees thatservices already existing in the framework of the W. H. O. should be utilised in so far as they can beadapted to the particular needs of Europe. It notes with satisfaction the intention of the W. H. O. todevelop such services on a regional basis, and agrees that progress can be made more rapidly within agroup of countries having broadly identical health problems. - The Assembly agrees with the procedure suggested by the Committee of Ministers to convenewithout delay a Committee of govemmental experts to study the proposals of the Governments, thereply of the W. H. O. and the Opinion of the Assembly. It would welcome further proposals from theGovernments for a wider collaboration in the health field. In this connection, the Assembly woulddraw attention to its study of the possibilities of an exchange of war cripples, and possibly otherinvalids as well, for the purpose of medical treatment in other countries.
CONCLUSION
In the light of the above considerations the Assembly approves and welcomes the proposals for asocial programme contained in the Special Message from the Committee of Ministers. The Assemblywishes, however, to repeat what it has already stressed on many occasions, namely that certainaspects of the housing problem should also be included in the programme.
