The Assembly ;
1. Has examined with interest the 14th progress report submitted to the Council of Europe by the International Labour Organisation (1st August 1963 - 3st December 1964), to certain passages in which it has given particular attention ;
2. Stresses that the report shows that the activities of a world-wide organisation like ILO and those of the Council of Europe can be complementary to one another and is pleased to note the trend towards a strengthening of the collaboration between the Council of Europe and ILO as well as between the Council and other intergovernmental organisations ;
3. Draws the attention of ILO to the entry into force, on 26th February 1965, of the European Social Charter, which has so far been ratified by Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and to the fact that ILO is to participate in a consultative capacity in the discussion of the reports which will be presented every two years by the Contracting Parties on the application of the Charter, at meetings of a Committee of Experts set up for the purpose ;
4. Recalls that one of the principal tasks of the Assembly is to contribute, by all the means at its disposal, to an improvement of social conditions in Europe, for the population at large and more particularly for the world of labour ; and follows developments in such spheres as automation, vocational training, emigration, social security, industrial reconversion, etc., each of which subjects should be studied in itself and in relation to all the others ;
5. Notes with interest the new ratifications, by Council of Europe member States, of International Labour Conventions mentioned in the ILO report ;
6. Observes that particular interest attaches to those chapters of the 14th report of ILO which deal with conditions of work and labour-management relations, as well as to the work of the International Labour Conference on various aspects of the employment of women, especially those with family responsibilities ;
7. Observes that the Convention and Recommendation on employment policy adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 48th Session (1964) are based on the same principles as Article 1 of the European Social Charter, which deals with the right to work ; notes that the Recommendation contains a wealth of ideas on the application of the principle of an active employment policy, and in particular that stress is laid on measures designed to remedy the serious, and in some countries growing, problem of unemployment among young people, on backward regions and on the prospects opened up by technological progress and improved productivity, of increasing leisure, improving working conditions and intensifying educational activities ; considers it important that, in harmony with modern economic and social trends, the signatories of the Convention should include the establishment of programmes based on the principles laid down in the Convention among the measures taken to apply it and should consult representatives of employers and workers on the problem ;
8. Notes that the development of the ILO programme on automation seems to meet its own preoccupations as expressed in its Resolution 274 (1964) in reply to the 13th report of ILO, and stresses its interest in the study of the differences between certain States of Western Europe with regard to the factors affecting labour mobility ;
9. Recalls its Recommendation 421 (1965), directed at strengthening collaboration between the Council of Europe and the European Economic Community with a view to furthering the free movement of manpower, and draws attention to the connected problems relating in particular to the social security rights of migrant workers ; welcomes the valuable assistance given to the Council of Europe by ILO in this sphere, in which a great step forward could be taken with the signature of a new European Convention on social security for foreigners and migrants ; and places on record its interest in the conclusions and recommendations of the Seminar held jointly by the United Nations and the International Labour Office (Madrid, April 1964) on social welfare arrangements for migrants in Western Europe, which will be of considerable help to Governments in applying Article 19 of the Social Charter in regard to free services to assist migrant workers ;
10. Recalling that, in its Resolution 248 (1963) in reply to the 12th report of ILO, the Assembly expressed its interest in the activities of the International Vocational Training Information and Research Centre (CIRF), hopes that it will still be in a position to carry out certain studies of interest to the industrialised countries of Europe ;
11. Takes pleasure in informing ILO of the progress made towards creating the European Office to supply films and educational material for use in occupational guidance and training which it advocated in its Recommendation 307 (1962), albeit in a context other than that of CIRF ;
12. Notes with interest the information with regard to the establishment and financing of the International Centre for Advanced Technical and Vocational Training at Turin, whose activities on behalf of developing countries it considers to be of capital importance ;
13. Having examined the important section of the 14th report of ILO devoted to rural workers, which deals in particular with rural employment promotion, rural vocational training and conditions of work, draws ILO's attention to the study carried out by its Committee on Agriculture on the drafting of an additional Protocol to the European Social Charter to confer on independent farmers economic and social rights equivalent to those guaranteed by the Charter to employed persons ;
14. Considering that the solutions to many social and manpower problems depend on demographic factors, recalls its recommendation that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe should organise a European Population Conference, which will be held in the autumn of 1966 on the five following subjects :
fertility trends - their causes and direct consequences ;
mortality trends - their causes and direct consequences ;
population movements ;
trends in population structures and their consequences ;
teaching and demographic research,
and which will give opportunities for discussion of the economic and social consequences of population trends, including manpower policy questions ;
15. Welcomes the technical assistance extended by ILO to several member States of the Council of Europe, and notes with pleasure the aid given by member States of the Council to ILO's activities.