Strasbourg, 9th March, 1956.
Sir,
By letter of 13th October last transmitting the Report of the Ministers' Deputies on the rôle of the Council of Europe, I informed you that since this report was prepared before the Committee of Ministers took cognisance of Opinion No. 13 of the Assembly, it was unable to take into account the proposals embodied therein. I also made known the intention of the Committee of Ministers to examine this Opinion thoroughly and inform the Assembly without delay of its conclusions.
Together with Opinion No. 13, the Committee of Ministers examined Recommendation 73 (1955) on the duplication of work between European organisations. I have the honour to submit herewith the views of the Committee of Ministers in regard to the questions raised in these two Assembly documents.
Paras. 6—11. — The Committee of Ministers recalls that, by its Resolution (53) 13 transmitted to the Assembly in May, 1953, it recommended to Member Governments that any future proposals directed to the creation of new organisations of a European character should at the earliest possible moment be submitted to the Council of Europe for discussion, and that these should provide for the establishment of links between such organisations and the Council.
While confirming this Recommendation, the Committee of Ministers would emphasise that there can be no obligation to consult the Assembly on plans of a European character, including proposals for the creation of new organisations. Nor could such consultation take place until the Governments concerned had. reached a substantial measure of agreement on each particular plan. However, the Committee of Ministers agrees that in cases in which it seems appropriate the Assembly could at least be informed of such plans as soon as the Governments had reached preliminary agreement.
The Committee of Ministers agrees that any request for an opinion addressed to the Assembly on the initiative of one or more Member States should be accompanied by appropriate documentary material.
The Committee of Ministers considers that the assistance of experts will be less essential when the Assembly receives the documentation referred to above. Furthermore, there might be certain constitutional and practical obstacles to such expert assistance.
The Committee of Ministers believes that it is mainly the responsibility of Assembly Representatives to present the latter's opinions to their national Parliaments. Where there are constitutional obstacles to this type of individual action by Members of Parliament, the Governments concerned will be invited to present the views of the Assembly.
Paras. 12-16. — With regard to the consultative rôle of the Assembly in relation to other European intergovernmental organisations, the Committee of Ministers has transmitted to O. E. E. C, within which the Ministerial Food and Agriculture Committee functions, and to the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, the Assembly's invitation that these bodies submit requests for opinions on definite and limited subjects, accompanied by detailed technical documentation. The invitation to 0. E. E. C. will first bo discussed in the Committees for liaison between the two organisations.
The Committee of Ministers examined this question during its 17th Session on 13th December. A discussion was subsequently held on this subject by the Joint Committee on 27 th January, 1956.
Paras. 17 and 18. —• In this connection, the Committee of Ministers would refer to paragraph 17 of its Special Message in which it recognised the following principle :
" I n the fields set out in Article 1 (b) of the Statute, the Council is concerned with any problem, even of a technical nature, the solution of which might promote greater unity among its members. It follows that it may, at the European lovol, study matters which are the concern of larger or more specialised international organisations, if such a study might result in useful intor-govern-montal action which would not otherwise be possible. An examination of the work already carried out or contemplated in the same field by other international organisations is a necessary preliminary ."
The Committee of Ministers has, of course, no objections to the discussions in the Assembly of certain problems which also figure on the agenda of world organisations and which have particular implications for Europe. It assures the Assembly that Member Governments always have in mind the general expression of the Assembly's views on these matters. The Committee recalls, in this connection, its Resolution (54) 16, setting up a procedure for consultation among European delegations to international organisations. Under paragraph (b) of this Resolution, whenever the work of an international organisation is likely to be of interest to the Council, the Secretary-General may propose to the Committee of Ministers or its Chairman that a meeting of the delegations of Members of the Council to these organisations should be held with a view to consultations.
During negotiations in world organisations, however, problems constantly arise on which it is necessary to take an immediate decision. In these circumstances the delegates of European countries often hold consultations on the spot.
Paras. 20 and 21. — The Committee of Ministers has already on a number of occasions expressed its satisfaction at the debates held by the Assembly on questions of general policy and trusts that the Assembly will continue to hold such debates. It agrees with the Assembly that it is of interest that the greatest possible number of Ministers should personally join in these debates. In this respect the Committee of Ministers would refer to its Resolution (55) 12 amending its Rules of Procedure in such a way as to allow not only any representative of the Committee but also any other Minister of a Member Government to speak before the Consultative Assembly as an individual and on his own behalf without the need to obtain the prior consent of the Committee.
While the Committee of Ministers is willing to submit concrete political problems to the Assembly, it would point out that the Assembly itself has the right to bring up any problem it may wish to discuss. The Committee will, as in the past, discuss the resolutions on political matters voted by the Assembly.
Paras. 23, 25 and 26. — The Committee of Ministers considers that it has already in a large measure taken action on the request of the Assembly made in paragraph 23 of Opinion No. 13, by resolving, as stated in paragraph 109 of its Sixth Report, that the Deputies should be authorised to hear the Chairman and the Rapporteur of any Assembly Committee.
The Committee of Ministers has already authorised contact, in certain cases, between Representatives to the Assembly and experts entrusted with the preparation of draft Agreements or Conventions. It has agreed to the setting up of a Joint Cultural Committee.
Para. 24. — The Committee of Ministers recalls that it has expressed its views on the character and rôle of the Joint Committee, more particularly in the letter addressed by the Chairman of the Committee on 29th August, 1955, to the President of the Consultative Assembly. It is, however, considering ways and means of convening the Joint Committee more frequently and enabling it to hold freer discussions.
Paras. 28 to 35. — The Committee of Ministers does not propose to resort to the procedure of partial agreements except in cases where an agreement among all its Members proves impossible. It has, nevertheless, noted the Assembly proposals on this subject and will examine the possibility of amending Resolution (51) 62 accordingly.
The Committee will as often as possible inform the Assembly of the reasons why it has been unable to accept any one of the Recommendations of the Assembly. In this respect, it would refer to Article 15 of its Rules of Procedure in which it is stated that where a Recommendation is only partially acceptable to the Committee of Ministers, the latter shall refer it back to the President of the Assembly for further consideration and shall at the same time append its comments.
Paras. 36 to 41. — In the course of the discussion which preceded the adoption of the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the Deputies, the Committee of Ministers considered a proposal that such meetings should be held every fortnight. This proposal was rejected as establishing an unnecessarily rigid timetable. The Ministers' Deputies normally hold meetings once a month, which are supplemented as required by meetings of working parties..
Some Deputies did not think that the establishment of permanent delegations at Strasbourg would in itself intensify or render more efficient the work of the Council of Europe, which depended essentially on the importance attached by Member Governments to the Council and the kind of tasks they entrusted to it. The pace of its work was determined by the national administrations, and the effects of an intensification of the Council's activities would be felt elsewhere rather than in the Committee of Deputies. These delegations pointed out, furthermore, that their foreign services were burdened by constantly increasing tasks and that for practical reasons it was difficult for small countries such as theirs to meet all these responsibilities. Finally, certain Deputies said that their Governments could send their permanent representatives to Strasbourg at any moment and without delay, and that this could be regarded as having almost the same advantages as actual residence in Strasbourg.
The majority of the other Deputies, while readily admitting that the establishment of permanent delegations was not in itself enough to achieve the desired result, considered that it was, nevertheless, an essential preliminary without which no improvement could take place.
The Committee of Ministers did not consider it expedient at this stage to recommend to Member Governments that they appoint Secretaries or Under-Secretaries of State for European affairs who could be entrusted with the task of co-ordinating governmental activities within the various European organisations.
When adopting the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the Deputies, the Committee of Ministers resolved in the course of its Session in July, 1955 not to accept the proposal whereby the Secretary-General would be made permanent Chairman. The Committee considered that the present system of chairmanship by rotation among the representatives of Member Governments had proved satisfactory.
The Committee of Ministers, having examined Recommendation 73 (1955), draws the attention of the Assembly to paragraph 7 of the Report of the Deputies on the rôle of the Council of Europe in which the Deputies express their intention to examine at a future meeting a proposal of the Secretary-General that he be authorised to propose to the European intergovernmental organisations the creation of a Co-ordinating Committee on which he would sit with the Secretaries-General of these organisations.
When the Committee of Ministers reconsiders the setting up of the Co-ordinating Committee, it will bear in mind the Assembly's proposals in Recommendation 73 (1955).
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
Signed : L. MARCHAI,