Improvements to be made to the machinery of the Council of Europe (Report of the Secretary-General, European Unity - Achievement and Prospects)

Recommendation 178 (1958)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

(a) Subject introduced by the Report of the Secretary-General, Doc. SG (58) I, presented to the Assembly on 29th April 1958, (see 2nd Sitting of the 10th Session). (b) 2nd May 1958, reference to the Political Committee (Reference No. 212). (c) 13th October 1958, tabling of the report of the Political Committee,Doc. 889. <br>(d) 16th October 1958, debate in the Assembly (see 20th Sitting of the 10th Session). Amendment No. 1, moved by M. de la Vallee Poussin, concerning the insertion of a new sub-paragraph between the sub-paragraphs (c) and (d) in paragraph 7 adopted. The Recommendation, together with amendment, was adopted unanimously.

I

1. The Assembly,

2. Having received and debated the Report of the Secretary-General -European Unity: Achievement arid Prospects (Doc. SG (58) 1) -which was prepared on the basis of Resolution (57) -26 of the Committee of Ministers,

3. Thanks the Secretary-General for this important and valuable report, trusts that he will continue, as in the past, to make available to the Committees of the Assembly the benefit of his experience and further expects him, when occasion arises, to feel free to submit his views to the Assembly, appropriate arrangements being made with the Bureau;

II

4. Recalls that the Assembly has asked the Committee of Ministers to submit to it once a year a Message outlining the achievements in the field of European integration of the previous year and the plans for the forthcoming year; this Message, which would be the subject of a general debate in the Assembly, would mean a return to the former practice of the Committee of Ministers, discontinued after 1953, of sending the Assembly at the beginning of each session a "political" message additional to the Statutory Report which principally records the activities of the Committees of Experts working for the Committee of Ministers in the social, cultural, legal and other fields; and

5. Requests the Committee of Ministers to give a definite reply to the Assembly's proposal;

III

6. Having noted that the main suggestions of the Secretary-General fall under three headings (greater co-ordination in foreign policy, European Economic Association and merging of the Council of Europe and O.E.E.C., and improvements to be made to the machinery of the Council of Europe) and that of these the first two are the subject of separate general debates;

7. Expresses its strong support for the improvements in the machinery of the Council of Europe proposed by the Secretary-General and its earnest desire:

a that the Committee of Ministers should examine the possibility of being empowered, like the Council of O.E.E.C., to take "decisions" binding on Member Governments;

b that the procedure for concluding "partial agreements" should be made more flexible and should be more extensively used; and that to help solve the technical and administrative difficulties that might arise from the conclusion of partial agreements the Secretary-General should be authorised by the Committee of Ministers to get in touch direct with the Government departments concerned;

c that the Committee of Ministers should delegate to the Secretary-General the task of following up its own recommendations to Member States and should inform the Assembly regularly of the action taken on them by Governments;

d that either the Committee of Ministers or the Ministers' Deputies should make a regular practice of thoroughly discussing the substance of the Assembly's recommendations, having regard to the fact that if the Deputies were no longer bound by rigid instructions issued in advance of the discussion they could more easily arrive at a common position and submit detailed reports to the Committee of Ministers, accompanied, where possible, by proposals for decisions to be taken by the Committee of Ministers;

e that the Assembly's Recommendations should be answered in detail;

f that the Committee of Ministers or the Deputies, when transmitting Assembly Recommendations to Committees of Experts, should inform them of their political views and give them precise instructions on the aims to be attained;

g that the Joint Committee should be enabled to function as the co-ordinating agency between the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly;

IV

8. Calls on the Committee of Ministers to realise that at a time when the six-Power Community is forging ahead it is not sufficient for the wider fifteen-Power Community to react with the proposal for a European Economic Association, but that it is necessary to have a new spirit in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in all other spheres of European co-operation; and

9. Requests the Committee of Ministers to draw up a programme for the year 1959, setting itself certain concrete goals to be achieved within that year.