The Consultative Assembly has studied with great interest the tenth Report, covering the period August 1959 to July 1960, presented to it by the International Labour Organisation and is gratified to note that ILO has, during this period as in the past, given extensive assistance to the European Organisations.
The Assembly is pleased to find that the spirit of collaboration which prevails in relations between the Council of Europe and ILO has been further strengthened. It sees tangible proof of this in the fruitful consultations taking place regarding the establishment of an International Vocational Training Information and Research Centre, in the functioning of which OEEC will also co-operate. The Assembly has learned with satisfaction that the Centre has in the meantime begun operations.
The Assembly welcomes the fact that in the same field of vocational training ILO has provided technical assistance to certain Council of Europe member States to enable them to make use of loans granted by the Resettlement Fund.
The Assembly, which has frequently demonstrated its interest in the social problems arising in connection with agriculture, is glad to note the important place accorded to them in the ILO programme, whether they concern the reasons why manpower is leaving the land, or the measures taken to increase incomes and improve living conditions in rural communities.
Furthermore, it is pleased to learn that ILO is already providing technical assistance to the Committee of Experts on Social Security for the preparation of a draft multilateral agreement on social security for migrant workers, an agreement designed to supplement existing interim agreements.
The Assembly is grateful to ILO for keeping it informed, by its Report, of the latest ratifications of International Labour Conventions by member States of the Council of Europe.
The Assembly is fully aware of the importance of International Labour Conventions as instruments of harmonisation of social legislation, thus, in its Recommendation 47 (1953) it advocated the speedy ratification by Members of the Council of Europe of certain such Conventions, selected in consultation with the ILO.
The Assembly feels that, in certain cases, International Labour Conventions might form the basis of European Conventions at a higher level than that which can be obtained on a wider international basis.
This idea is expressed in the general social programme of the Council of EuropeNote and has in fact been endorsed by the Governing Body of the ILO.Note
In the social security field this principle has been applied through the elaboration, in close collaboration with the ILO, of the draft European Code and Protocol of Social Security.
An examination of International Labour Conventions has now been started in the Council of Europe for the purpose, amongst others, of ascertaining whether higher standards could in some cases be reached in the European framework.
The Assembly feels that this is a question of great interest and hopes that it will give practical results permitting of a closer collaboration between the two Organisations.
It has noted the results of the 44th Session of the International Labour Conference (1960) and the Agenda for the 45th Session (1961) ; it is pleased to see that ILO is dealing with such problems as workers' housing and the reduction of hours of work. It hopes that measures will be adopted on the lines suggested in its Recommendation 154 (1958) on certain social and financial aspects of the housing problem in Europe, and in its Opinion No. 32 (1959), Article 2 (1), concerning the reduction in weekly working hours.
The Convention on the protection of workers against ionising radiations, adopted in 1960, is of the utmost importance to Council of Europe member States, most of which are highly industrialised.
Lastly, the Assembly believes that the newly created International Institute for Labour Studies can render great services to those interested in labour policy. It congratulates ILO on this initiative and hopes that the educational work performed by the Centre will prove highly effective.