I. Matters referred by the Committee of Ministers to the Assembly for its opinion.
II. Supplement to the Report of the Committee of Ministers to the AssemblyNote
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Committee of Ministers
The Chairman
Strasbourg, 7th. August 1950.
Sir,
1. The Committee of Ministers decided at its current Session in virtue of Article 23 (a) of the Statute of the Council of Europe, to seek the views of the Consultative Assembly on the following points :
Draft Convention for the defence of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, formulated with all due regard to the previous draft submitted, to the Committee of Ministers by the Consultative Assembly after the First Session.
Consideration of the possible value, for the furtherance of the aims of the Council, of the formulation of a multilateral Convention on the reciprocal treatment of nationals (physical or juridical persons) of Member States of the Council of Europe.
Enquiry into the possibility of establishing a European agreement, or system of agreements, relating to relief from double taxation.
The documents relating to the first two of the above requests are herewith appended.
2. The Committee of Ministers was led, further, to give its opinion on the conclusions reached by the Committees of Experts which had met in Strasbourg in the previous month, to implement the recommendations of the Consultative Assembly relating to the rôle of the Council of Europe in the cultural and social spheres, as well as the proposal of the Committee of Ministers to extend to all Member States the provisions of the multilateral Convention on social security, concluded 7th November 1949 by the Brussels Treaty Powers.
In accordance with decisions previously taken, to which reference is made in Paragraphs 48 and 53 of the Committee's Report to the Consultative Assembly, the Committee of Ministers, in forwarding the reports drawn up by its committees, feels bound to draw to the attention of the Assembly the following resolutions relating to them.
4. The Committee of Ministers, in order to supplement the measures already decided upon to intensify the spread of economic information among a wider public which are dealt with in Paragraphs 37-40 of the Report of the Committee of Ministers to the Assembly, has adopted the following resolution :
" In view of the recommendation of the Consultative Assembly asking Governments to intensify the spread of economic information already in existence and to use every possible means to bring home to the peoples the present economic situation and the appropriate remedies ;
" And taking into account the exchanges of views undertaken on its instructions between the Secretaries-General of the Council of Europe and of O. E. E. C.;
" It recommends to the Governments of Memr ber States the diffusion of economic information so as to enable the peoples of Europe to appreciate the economic problems with which they are faced;
" And instructs the Secretary-General to submit a detailed plan for the application of this recommendation at the next meeting of the Committee of Ministers. "
5. After studying your letter dated 7th August, 1950, in which you communicated to me the opinion expressed by the Standing Committee with regard to Articles 12 and 12 a of the Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Committee of Ministers, the latter has decided finally to adopt the text of these Articles.
6. Lastly, in deference to the wish expressed in your letter dated 7th August, 1950, the Committee of Ministers has instructed its President to be present at the Assembly Debates dealing with the Report and Message addressed to it by the Committee of Ministers and, should the occasion arise, to acquaint the Assembly with the point of view of the Committee of Ministers.
7. The Committee of Ministers has furthermore agreed that M. Robert SCHUMAN, French Minister for Foreign Affairs, should give the Consultative Assembly an account of the French Plan for a European Union for coal and steel.
I am, Sir, Your most obedient and humble servant,
The High Contracting Parties shall secure to each person within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section I of this Convention.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law :
Men and women of full age have the right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right.
Everyone whose rights and freedoms as herein secured are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.
The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms secured in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, languages, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.
Nothing in Articles 10, 11 and 14 shall be regarded as preventing the High Contracting Parties from imposing restrictions on the political activity of aliens.
Nothing in this Convention may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person, any right to engagé in any activity or perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein or at their limitation to a greater extent than is provided for in the Convention.
The restrictions permitted under this Convention to these rights and freedoms shall not be applied for any purpose other than those for which they have been prescribed.
To ensure the observance of the engagements undertaken by the High Contracting Parties in the present Convention, there shall be set up :
The Commission shall consist of a number of members equal to that of the High Contracting Parties. No two members of the Commission may be nationals of the same State.
The members of the Commission shall sit on the Commission in their individual capacity.
Any High Contracting Party may refer to this Commission through the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe any alleged breach of the provisions of the Convention by another High Contracting Party.
The Commission may only deal with the matter after all domestic remedies have been exhausted according to the. generally recognised rules of international law and within a period of six months from the date on which the final decision was taken.
In the event of the Commission accepting a matter referred to it :
If the Sub-Commission succeeds in effecting a settlement in accordance with Article 28, it shall draw up a Report which shall be sent to the States concerned, to the Committee of Ministers and to the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe for publication. This Report shall be confined to a brief statement of the facts and to the solution reached.
The Commission shall meet in camera.
The Commission shall take its decisions by a majority of the Members present and voting; the Sub-Commission shall take its decisions by a majority of its members.
The Commission shall meet as the circumstances require. The meetings shall be convened by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
The Commission shall draw up its own rules of procedure.
The Secretariat of the Commission shall be provided by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
The European Court of Human Rights shall consist of a number of judges equal to that of the Members of the Council of Europe. No two of the judges may be nationals of the same State.
The Court shall elect its President and Vice- President for a period of three years. They may be re-elected.
The members of the Court shall receive for each day of duty a compensation to be determined by the Committee of Ministers.
For the consideration of each case brought before it the Court shall consist of a Chamber composed of 7 judges. There shall sit as an ex officio member of the Chamber the judge who is a national of any State party concerned, or, if there is none, a person of its choice who shall sit in the capacity of judge; the names of the other judges shall be chosen by lot by the President before the opening of the case.
Only the High Contracting Parties and the Commission shall have the right to bring a case before the Court.
The jurisdiction of the Court shall extend to all cases concerning the interpretation and application of the present Convention which the High Contracting Parties or the Commission shall refer to it in accordance with Article 48.
The Court may only deal with a case after the Commission has acknowledged the failure of efforts at settlement and within the period of three months provided for in Article 32.
The following may bring a case before the Court, provided that the High Contracting Party concerned, if there is only one, or the High Contracting Parties concerned, if there are more than one, are subject to the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court oi', failing that, with the consent of the High Contracting Party concerned if there is only one, or of the High Contracting Parties concerned if there are more than one :
In the event of dispute as to whether the Court has jurisdiction, the matter shall be settled by the decision of the Court.
If the Court finds that a decision or a measure taken by a legal authority or any authority of one of the High Contracting Parties is completely or partially opposed to the obligation arising the present Convention, and if the internal law of the said Party only allows partial reparation to be made for the consequences of this decision or measure, the decision of the Court shall, if necessary, accord just satisfaction to the injured party.
The judgment of the Court shall be final.
The High Contracting Parties undertake to abide by the decision of the Court in any case to which they are parties.
The judgment of the Court shall be transmitted to the Committee of Ministers which shall supervise its execution.
The Court shall draw up its own rules and shall determine its own procedure.
On receipt of a request to that effect from the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe the Government of any State Party to this Convention shall supply an explanation of the manner in which the law of that State gives effect to any of the provisions in this Conventio
The expenses of the Commission and the Court shall be borne by the Council of Europe.
The member's of the Commission and of the Court shall be entitled, during the discharge of their functions, to the privileges and immunities provided for in Article 40 of the Statute of the Council of Europe and in the agreements made thereunder.
Nothing in Ulis Convention shall be construed as limiting or derogating from any of the human rights and fundamental freedoms which may be ensured under the laws of any High Contracting Party or under any other agreement to which it is a Party.
Nothing in this Convention shall prejudice the powers conferred on the Committee of Ministers by the Statute of the Council of Europe.
The High Contracting Parties agree that, except by special agreement, they will not avail themselves of treaties, conventions or declarations in force between them for the purpose of submitting, by way of petition, a dispute arising out of the interpretation or application of this Convention to a means of settlement other than those provided for in this Convention.
The aim of the Council of Europe as specified in its Statute is " to achieve a greater unity between its Members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress. " It is obvious that one of the steps in the realisation of this aim consists in easing the relations between people who make up the national communities of Member States.
It is incontestable that, even after the creation of the Council of Europe, a national of one of the Member States is still considered a foreigner when on the territory of another Member; yet there are some grounds for expecting the creation of the Council of Europe to have certain effects on the legal treatment of nationals of ond Member State when on the territory of others. Public opinion in the countries of the Council of Europe would not understand the political significance of the foundation of the Council unless one of its practical effects were to make the differences of legal status between nationals and foreigners from countries within the council less marked.
There arc already in existence bilateral treaties of settlement or trade between Member States of the Council of Europe which regulate the treatment of nationals of a contracting State when on the territory of another contracting State. These treaties are to a lesser or greater extent based on the principle of granting equality of treatment with nationals as far as certain rights and activities are concerned.
On this subject it would be desirable for the Council of Europe to take the initiative and study whether a collective Convention may be drawn up which, basing itself on the principles of the Statute, regulates the question of the reciprocal treatment of nationals (individuals or legal entities) of the Member States of the Council of Europe.
At its Second Session the Consultative Assembly would pass on this draft Convention for examination by the competent Committees.
It would then be up to the Committee of Ministers to give practical effect to the wishes of the Consultative Assembly by instructing a Committee of Experts or of delegates of Governments to draw up a draft Convention, according to the procedure already adopted for the Convention on Human Rights.
The subjects dealt with by the proposed Convention would be all those various aspects of the treatment of nationals of a Member State of the Council of Europe when on the territory of other Member States, and, in particular, would include the following :
This list of subjects to be regulated by the proposed Convention is not restrictive.
A special Convention should be established with regard to Social Assurance.
1. At its third Session the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, following a communication of the Belgian Government, considered the question of the participation of the Member States of the Council of Europe in the multilateral convention on social security, signed at Paris on 7th November 1949 by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Brussels Treaty Powers.
In view of the complexity of the problems involved in the extension of the multilateral convention to other Member States, the Committee of Ministers decided to instruct the Secretary- General to convene a Committee of Experts to study this question, this Committee to consist of represent a lives of the thirteen Members of the Council of Europe.
2. The Committee of Experts met in Strasbourg on 15th-17th of June 1950. Iceland and Greece did not send representatives to the meeting. The other Member States were represented as follows :
Belgium. : M. DUQUESNE, Head of Department in the Ministry of Labour.
Denmark : M. P. JUHL-CHRISTENSEN, Head of Department in the Ministry of Social Affairs.
France : M. P. LAROQUE, Director General of Social Security in the Ministry of Labour.
Ireland : Mr. WI L L I AM MAGUIRE, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Social Welfare.
Italy : M. MAZZETTI, Deputy Director in the National Institute of Social Welfare. M. VALLE, Vice-Counsellor of Emigration in the Italian Embassy in Paris.
Luxembourg : M. Paul WILWERTZ, Counsellor of State, Commissioner of the National Office of Labour.
Netherlands : M. A. C. M. VAN DE VEN, Chief Counsellor of the Directorate of Social Security in the Ministry of Social Affairs. M. BOOT, Director in the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Norway : M. A. KRINGLEBÖTTEN, Director of Department in the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Sweden : M. Ernst BEXELIUS, Director- General of the Royal Social Board.
Turkey : M. Nureddin VERGIN, Minister Plenipotentiary in the Embassy of Turkey in Paris.
United Kingdom: Mr. C. G. DENNYS, C. B., M. C, Under Secretary of the Ministry of National Insurance.
3. The representative of France, M. P. Laroque was unanimously elected Chairman of the Committee.
4. The terms of reference of the Committee are given by the decision of the Committee of Ministers referred to above, namely to study the problems involved in an extension to the other Member States of the Council of Europe of the multilateral convention between the Brussels Treaty Powers on social security.
As such extension presupposes the conclusion of bilateral social security agreements between the States that wish to participate in the multilateral convention, the Committee considered that the problems involved in the conclusion of such bilateral treaties would also have to be studied.
5. The Committee had before it a Note, prepared by the Secretariat-General (Doc. CM/WP II (50) i ) . In that document the Secretariat- General had suggested that the members of the Committee should prepare memoranda, giving information on social security agreements of a general or partial nature concluded or under negotiation between the Member States, and indicating the problems involved in concluding the necessary bilateral agreements which would form the basis for the extension of the multilateral convention in question.
Some members of the Committee had prepared such memoranda, and other members undertook to take similar action. These memoranda are attached as appendices to the present Report.
6. The Committee proceeded to a general exchange of views, partly based on the memoranda already prepared. In his statement, the representative of France made certain proposals aiming at obtaining some temporary positive results before one could hope to reach the ultimate aim.
7. After the general exchange of views the Chairman pointed out that as a result of the information given, one could see three main questions which the Committee had to discuss in particular, namely :
8. Bilateral treaties.
It was unanimously agreed that a multilateral convention of the type in question presupposed bilateral social security agreements between the parties to the multilateral convention. The Committee therefore felt that it would be desirable that the Council of Europe would recommend the conclusion of such bilateral agreements. Such treaties must, however, be arrived at through detailed bilateral negotiations, and the Committee found that it could not usefully pronounce at the present time on the contents of such treaties.
The social security schemes of the Brussels Treaty Powers are similar in that they are based on contributory systems. In the Scandinavian countries on the other hand, social security is partly based on a non-contributory system. This example proves that the conclusion of social security agreements between countries whose social security systems show important differences, poses special problems.
It was pointed out that the Scandinavian countries would shortly enter into negotiations with France with a view to conclude agreements. During these negotiations the special problems involved would come into focus, and solutions might be found.
The Committee should therefore meet from time to time and be kept informed of the difficulties . arising during these and other negotiations and the solutions found. The Committee would then be in a better position to pronounce on the principles underlying the contents of the agreements to be concluded. Parties to bilateral negotiations could, if they so wished, jointly request the aid of the Committee in solving technical problems arising during their negotiations.
The Committee agreed that it should recommend that the bilateral treaties to be concluded should be of a comprehensive character, but this should not preclude the conclusion of partial agreements between countries which found it impossible to arrive at comprehensive agreements.
The Committee also agreed to recommend a study, as soon as possible, of standard formulae for the wording and interpretation of the bilateral treaties.
9. In order to facilitate the future negotiations and to reinforce the collaboration between the Member States of the Council of Europe, the Committee considered that it would be very useful to establish a system by which the Member States of the Council of Europe could exchange information on their social security systems, laying particular stress on the position of citizens of foreign countries under their social security legislation.
It is recommended that such information should be transmitted to the Secretariat-General which should distribute it to the Member States.
10. Multilateral Convention :
It was pointed out that the terms of reference of the Committee of Experts, as formulated by the Committee of Ministers, were restricted to the study of the extension of the present multilateral convention between the Brussels Treaty- Powers. The rules of this convention have, however, been determined by the fundamental similarity in the demographic situation and in the social security systems of the Brussels Treaty Powers, which may not exist between the other Member States of the Council of Europe. In order to make the convention applicable to other States, it might be necessary to amend it. It might even he necessary to establish a different type of multilateral convention.
There was unanimous agreement in the Committee that there is no immediate possibility of extending the multilateral convention between the Brussels Treaty Powers to all the other Members of the Council of Europe. The necessary bilateral treaties must first be concluded, and it is of particular importance for the forming of the multilateral convention that bilateral treaties shall have been concluded, not only between countries with similar social security systems, but also between countries whose social security schemes show basic differences like those between contributory and non-contributory schemes.
Only then, at a later session, could the Committee fruitfully discuss what should be the principles of the envisaged multilateral convention. It was pointed out, however, that it would not be necessary to postpone the drafting of the multilateral.convention until all bilateral agreements had been concluded. It may well be that the task of working out the multilateral convention could start when bilateral negotiations have progressed sufficiently to bring into focus the various problems involved.
The representative of Italy, referring to the provisions of Article 10 of the multilateral convention between the Brussels Treaty Powers, raised the question of the social security rights of the families of emigrants who have remained in the country of origin, and of persons (sick, invalid or unemployed) who, after having emigrated to another Member State, have been compelled to return to their country of origin.
The Committee considered that in view of the differences in principles between the different social security systems, these questions were in general related to the wider problem of economic and social unity between the Member States. The Committee felt obliged to leave it to the Committee of Ministers to deal with this question, [t does, however, not exclude the possibility that the purely technical aspects of the problem might find their solution in the framework of the Committee of Experts.
11. The suggestions of the representative of France.
These suggestions are as follows :
The Committee realised that these questions were not covered by its terms of reference. It considered, however, that the adoption of the proposals in question would contribute to a development in the direction of what had been envisaged by the Committee of Ministers and could lead to more immediate results.
The Committee agreed to recommend that the questions mentioned under (a) and (b) above should be studied by the Committee at a latter session.
The members of the Committee should prepare individual memoranda on the problems in question for the consideration of the Committee.
There was also general agreement as to the desirability and practicability of the proposal mentioned under (c) above. The Committee recommended that a sub-committee should be set up to deal with this question when the position of the various Governments could be known.
12. Conclusions.
The Committee of Experts would submit the following recommendations to the Committee of Ministers :
The Committee draws the attention of the Committee of Ministers to the problems referred to in the two last sub-paragraphs of paragraph 10 above.
The meeting of cultural experts was held in Strasbourg from the 28th-30th June 1950.
There were present :
Belgium : M. KUYPERS, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Public Instruction. M. VANDENBORRE, Director of Administration.
Denmark : M. BODELSEN, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of English in the University of Copenhagen.
France : M. JOXE, Councillor of State, Director-General of Cultural Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. M. ABRAHAM, Inspector-General of Public Instruction. M. SEYDOUX, Deputy-Director of Cultural Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. M. DEBEAUVAIS, Department of Cultural Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Greece : Unrepresented.
Iceland : Unrepresented.
Ireland : Dr. HAYES, Director of the National Library, Dublin.
Italy : M. MAMELI, Minister Plenipotentiary, Director-General of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. M. FRAIESE, Director- General of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Public Instruction. M. DE CLEMENTI, First Secretary, Italian Embassy, Paris.
Luxembourg : M. MATHIAS-THINNES, Official Councillor.
Netherlands : M. R E I N I N K , Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education. M. BENDER, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Education.
Norway : M. SMITT-INGEBRETSEN, Member of the Storting, Vice- Chairman of the Committee on Cultural and Scientific Questions. M. MOHR, Professor, Member of the Norwegian Delegation to UNESCO.
Sweden : M. HAASTAD, Doctor of Literature, Professor of Political Science in the University of Stockholm.
Turkey : M. KUTSI TECER, Delegate to the Executive Council of UNESCO.
United Kingdom ;Mr. FINCH, Head of the Cultural Affairs Department, Foreign Office. Mr. MORRISON, Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Education. Mr. SEYMOUR, C. B. E., Secretary of the British Council. Mr. JOHNSTONE, C. M. G., British Council.
The Secretary General opened the meeting and invited the experts to elect a Chairman. On the proposal of the British delegation, M. JOXE (France) was unanimously elected.
The Chairman emphasised the novel character of the meeting and stated that the Agenda was in no sense intended to be restrictive. Any additional proposal connected with European cultural co-operation would be considered.
On the proposal of the Norwegian delegation, the Committee adopted the following resolution :
" Meeting under the authority of the Council of Europe, the Committee of experts designated by the Governments of the Member States of the Council of Europe to examine the Recommendations made by the Consultative Assembly in the cultural field;
" Meeting under the authority of the Council of Europe, the Committee of experts designated by the Governments of the Member States of the Council of Europe to examine the Recommendations made by the Consultative Assembly in the cultural field;
" The Committee considers it most valuable for the promotion of understanding and collaboration between the European nations that the Assembly should have paid so much attention to the cultural problems of Europe. It also considers that the Recommendation made by the Assembly drew attention to the immediate tasks to be achieved.
" To have machinery which can deal with problems without waste of time and money and avoid duplication of work in the European cultural field, the Committee thinks it necessary that a practical form of collaboration should be established between the Council of Europe and UNESCO. The Committee believes that negotiations sould be opened between the Council of Europe and UNESCO with the object of takingadvantage of the work of UNESCO and other international organisations in the cultural field in Europe so that immediate tasks and long-term planning may be performed in the light of common and constructive effort.
" The Committee also considers that it would be wise, in general, to avoid trying to cover too wide a field at once through the medium of general treaties or arrangements. It also considers that very valuable results have been achieved through bilateral n egotiàtions and that this method is effective in producing positive results.
" It is in the spirit of this Resolution that the Committee turns to consider the principal part of the Agenda. "
The Committee submitted the following recommendations :
N. B. — In order that the material mentioned in paragraph 1 may be exchanged without delay, the Committee of experts decided that these exchanges should be completed before the 1st August 1950, the Secretariat-General to receive a copy of all documents.
The Committee recommended that Governments be invited :
The Committee proposed that the question should not be overlooked as to whether the formation of the European community did not entail a certain balance between the Anglo- Saxon or Germanic languages and the Latin languages when foreign languages were taught.
The Committee submitted the following recommendations :
The Committee of experts considered the problem of the revision of textbooks dealing with history and geography.
It recognised the contribution which such a work could make towards bringing out the links which united the peoples of Europe. It also recalled the efforts made in this field by the various European countries, as well as the work accomplished by UNESCO.
While recognising that it would be undesirable to undertake the preparation of textbooks to be used in several countries, the Committee submitted the following recommendations :
The Committee submitted the following recommendations :
The Committee took note of the large number of scholarships already in existence for students in European countries and considered it desirable, but not indispensable, that there should be a system of reciprocity regularised by formal agreements. The Committee emphasised the exceptional value of these scholarships in achieving the aims of the Council of Europe.
The Committee submitted the following recommendations :
The Committee emphasised the part played by broadcasting in forming public opinion and recognised that the requirements of wireless audiences differed widely from country to country, a fact which rendered the immediate establishment of a European wireless station undesirable.
The Committee submitted the following recommendations :
N.-B. — 1. As regards the cinema, the Committee considered that this important channel of information should be used in the same way as broadcasting.
2. As regards adult education and university extension courses, the Committee refers to its recommendations under Items 1, 2 and 5 of the Agenda.
3. As regards artistic and folklore exhibitions, see Item 8.
The Committee recognised the valuable work being done in this field by the International Museums Council and UNESCO in drawing up a list of reproductions of works of art and encouraging their publication and dissemination.
The Committee made the following recommendations :
The Committee considered the desirability of convening a meeting of the Ministers of Education of Member States and was of the opinion that the present state of the work did not justify it in recommending a special meeting of this nature.
The Committee considered that the present slate of its work did not justify a recommendation in favour of a meeting of University Vice- Chancellors.
The Committee considered this proposal taking into account its financial implications and its staffing problems. Attention was also called to the administrative difficulties which would have to be faced.
The Committee was of the opinion that, in the circumstances, advantage should be taken of the efforts already made in several countries to set up centres of training and of European studies. In addition, it considered that it would be desirable to co-ordinate the work of national institutions established by some states in the territory of other Members of the Council.
It also considered the proposal of the Netherlands' delegation advocating that national institutions should be encouraged to develop along their own particular lines without, however, implying specialisation in the different spheres of culture.
The Committee decided to set up a sub-committee to consider carefully the problems which had been raised.
The following items were not included in the original Agenda of the Committee but were added during the course of discussion in accordance with the statement made by the Chairman in opening the meeting.
The following proposal was presented by the Italian delegation :
" That the Member States of the Council of Europe be invited to undertake, with the assistance of the Secretariat-General, the necessary studies for the adoption of a cultural identity card similar to that already created by the Brussels Treaty Powers. "
The proposal was approved.
The following proposal was presented by the Belgium delegation :
" The Committee of cultural experts,
" Considering that the study and application of the various measures for ensuring cultural co-operation within the Council of Europe will entail additional work and further expenditure,
" Desiring to ensure that the decisions taken are rapidly put into effect,
" Proposes that the Consultative Assembly recommend the Governments concerned to make available to the qualified administrative bodies or institutions the financial and other means necessary to enable them successfully to fulfil the new tasks confronting them. "
The proposal was approved.
The following proposal was submitted by the Belgian delegation :
" The Committee of cultural experts,
" Considering that to ensure propagation of the idea of European unity among the broad masses of the people, it is necessary to encourage exchanges of directors of youth movements and of institutions of popular education, in addition to social and medical helpers,
" Emphasises the importance of organising special courses for their benefit as well as of examining the equivalence of qualifications of directors of extension classes, and of social and medical helpers,
" Suggests that! there should'be ah exchange of all the relevant documents on this subject and that a specialised organisation be entrusted to make a comparative study of the reports received, so as to decide how qualifications may be recognised and exchanges brought about, and what gaps remain to be bridged. "
The Committee held a short preliminary discussion and approved the suggestion of the Belgian delegation that further consideration should be deferred to a future meeting. The Belgian delegation was asked to circulate a more detailed paper before the next meeting of the Committee.
The Committee approved the following recommendation based on a proposal submitted by the French delegation and amended at- the suggestion of the .Norwegian-Swedish-Danish delegations :
The following proposal was presented by the French delegation :
" That Governments study as soon as possible the draft agreement on the free circulation of educational, scientific and cultural material adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at Florence, with the view of examining the possibility of speedy accession thereto. "
The proposal was approved.