Reply to the report on the activities of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1972
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 23 January 1974 (23rd Sitting) (see Doc. 3372, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development). Text adopted by the Assembly on 23 January 1974 (23rd Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Taking note of the report on the activities of OECD in 1972 (
Doc. 3312) and of the report of its Committee on Economic Affairs and Development in reply thereto (
Doc. 3372) ;
2. Welcoming the accession of New Zealand as the twenty-fourth member state of OECD ;
3. Realising that the present rate of inflation is not only having serious consequences in the field of economics, but also has socially unacceptable effects on income distribution, calls upon the member states of OECD to take urgent measures, together and at national level, to deal with the underlying national and international causes of inflation ;
4. Welcomes the adoption by the Council of OECD of a set of guiding principles concerning international economic aspects of environmental policy, and urges OECD to strengthen cooperation among its member states in the environmental field, particularly in the sector of industrial pollution and its international economic aspects, taking into consideration the activities already pursued by the Council of Europe ;
5. Stresses the importance of regular and precise assessment of the stage of social evolution for the purpose of improving long-term planning, and welcomes the efforts of OECD in the field of social indicators, which should be seen in the light of the proposals set out in
Recommendation 685 (1972) on the institution of social reports by the governments of Council of Europe member states, and hopes that the Committee of Ministers will soon give effect to these proposals ;
6. Notes with satisfaction that OECD has begun studies of innovations in the procedures and structures of government in order to take account of social consequences and economic implications of new technologies ;
7. Expresses its appreciation of the work done by OECD in the field of computer telecommunications within and between governments in the light of the growing need for governments and parliaments to determine their strategies for its management and control ;
8. Hopes that the important trade and monetary negotiations currently under way will lead to positive results on the widest possible basis, and :
invites OECD to make full use of the possibilities offered by its competence and programme to foster the progress and success of these negotiations ;
reiterates its view that the future international economic system must be managed by the world community as a whole, and that participation in the decision-making machinery of international institutions should be open on an equitable basis to all countries concerned, developed as well as developing countries ;
9. Regrets that, while rules and institutions exist to establish and maintain a framework of fair international trade and monetary systems, there is no institution nor code to govern the conduct and define the rights and obligations of international companies, and :
welcomes the fact that OECD has begun studies in depth of the role of multinational companies and in particular of such questions as their influence on short-term capital movements, competition, industrial relations and the application and transfer of technology ;
calls upon OECD to elaborate such a code for implementation in its member states ;
10. Expresses its disappointment with recent relations between developed and developing countries in the fields of aid and trade, and invites all developed countries in OECD to implement a coordinated policy of development cooperation leading to marked improvements in the fields of financial assistance and trade, with a view to promoting in particular the introduction of a generalised system of tariff preferences in favour of developing countries ;
11. Urges the Council of OECD to give high priority to the strengthening of its machinery of consultation, and to encourage the governments of member states to take coordinated and effective decisions, so that emergency situations - whether in the field of economic management or in that of availability of resources - are avoided or dealt with without delay ;
12. Hopes that the energy crisis will forge closer ties between OECD countries in the development of common longterm energy policies, and urges the Council of OECD :
to pursue with vigour its efforts to find a satisfactory solution, both for consumer and producer countries, to the problem of energy supplies ;
to give high priority to the promotion and coordination of research and development of new energy sources, and to the development of technologies for the more rational utilisation of traditional ones ;
13. Urges the governments of the Council of Europe member states to actively coordinate their short-term economic policies together and with those other Members of OECD, in order to reduce the adverse effects of the current oil crisis on the level of employment and prosperity in their countries ;
14. Expresses the hope that ways will be found to ensure that those member states of OECD with parliamentary democracies which are not Members of the Council of Europe will take an increasingly active part in the Assembly's annual debates on OECD's activities.
