Procedure for co-ordinationg the cultural activities of the Council of Europe and W.E.U.

Report | Doc. 573 | 22 October 1956

Committee

Committee on Culture, Science and Education

Rapporteur :

Mr Nigel NICOLSON, United Kingdom

Origin

See Recommendation 73 (1955), Doc. 468 (First Report of the Council of W. E. U.), Order 91, Doc. 541 (Report), Doc. 554 (Motion for a Recommendation) and Reference 115. 1956 - 8th Session - Second part

Thesaurus

A Draft Recommendation

T h e Assembly,

H a v i n g r e g a r d t o R e c o m m e n d a t i o n 73 (1955);

H a v i n g r e g a r d t o R e s o l u t i o n (51) 62 of t h e Committee of Ministers on t h e concluding of p a r t i a l a g r e e m e n t s;

H a v i n g r e g a r d t o A r t i c l e 3 of t h e E u r o p e a n Cultural Convention, r a t i f i e d b y t e n member countries of t h e Council of E u r o p e , of which six a r e Members of W e s t e r n E u r o p e an Union, p r o v i d i n g t h a t " t h e C o n t r a c t i n g P a r t i es s h a l l c o n s u l t w i t h one a n o t h e r w i t h i n t h e framework of t h e Council of E u r o p e w i t h a v i ew to c o n c e r t e d a c t i o n i n p r o m o t i n g c u l t u r a l activit i e s of E u r o p e a n i n t e r e s t " ;

Considering that all Members of W. E. U. are also Members of t h e Council of E u r o p e ;

Considering t h a t the present cultural a c t i v i t i e s of b o t h t h e Council of E u r o p e and . W . E. U. are d i r e c t e d t o w a r d s t h e same goal a n d i n s p i r e d b y t h e same p o l i t i c a l motives,

R e c o m m e n d s to the Committee of Ministers :

t h a t it p r e p a r e as soon as possible a p l a n for t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of a c t i v i t i e s a m o n g t he v a r i o u s E u r o p e a n i n s t i t u t i o n s;

t h a t , in so doing, i t t a k e i n t o account t h e following proposals r e l a t i n g t o t h e c u l t u r al t a s k s of W. E. U. a n d t h e Council of E u r o p e.

1. It is d e s i r a b l e t h a t e v e n t u a l l y all cult u r a l a c t i v i t i e s u n d e r t a k e n in E u r o p e at interg o v e r n m e n t a l level be carried out w i t h i n the f r a m e w o r k of t h e Council of E u r o p e in accordance w i t h Article 3 of t h e E u r o p e a n Cultural C o n v e n t i o n .

2. In view of t h e existence now of two different agencies engaged i n t h e s e a c t i v i t i e s , it would be a d v i s a b l e for t h e m t o be b r o u g h t i n to l i n e b y successive stages w i t h a view t o their u l t i m a t e a m a l g a m a t i o n.

(a) First Stage

T h e WEU committees of experts on c u l t u r a l m a t t e r s should i m m e d i a t e l y join w i t h the experts of countries which are not Members of W. E, U. and who sit on the c o r r e s p o n d i n g committees of t h e Council of E u r o p e , i n e x a m i n i n g t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of i n t r o d u c i n g w i t h i n t h e framework of t h e Council of E u r o p e t h o s e a c t i v i t i e s of W. E. U. which h a ve b e e n p r o v e d fruitful in p r e v i o u s y e a r s.

(b) Second Stage

After a s h o r t period of e x p e r i m e n t in t h e first stage e v e r y n ew proposal in t h e cult u r a l field, i n i t i a t e d by either t h e Council of E u r o p e or by W. E. U., shall be examined in t h e first place b y t h e committees of e x p e r t s of t h e Council of E u r o p e.

If i t is found impossible t o c a r r y out a n ew project in t h e wider framework of the Council of E u r o p e , i t shall n e x t be considered w h e t h e r it is possible to c a r r y it out on the basis of a p a r t i a l agreement among a l i m i t ed n u m b e r of the countries of the Council of E u r o p e .

If no o t h e r members o u t s i d e W. E. U. a r e willing to join in t h e p r o j e c t , it could be c a r r i e d out w i t h i n t h e framework of W. E. U. alone.

(c) Third Stage

D e p e n d i n g on t h e success of t h e first a n d second stages all a c t i v i t i e s in t h e c u l t u r al field shall t a k e place w i t h i n the framework of t h e Council of E u r o p e.

At this final stage t h o s e projects in which some b u t not all member countries wish to p a r t i c i p a t e will b e c a r r i e d o u t b y t h e i n t e r e s t ed c o u n t r i e s on t h e basis of p a r t i a l a g r e e m e n t s.

B I I . Explanatory Memorandum

1. At t h e opening of t h e c u r r e n t p a r t of t h e Session t h e S t a n d i n g Committee referred to t h e Committee on Cultural and Scientific Questions a motion for a Recommendation s u b m i t t e d by M. E r l e r a n d others, proposing t h a t the cultural activities of W. E. U. be r e g a r d e d as being based upon p a r t i a l agreem e n t s concluded w i t h i n t h e framework of t he Council of E u r o p e (Doc. 554).

2. Your C o m m i t t e e s t u d i e d t h i s proposal a t t e n t i v e l y in the light of the debate in t h e W E U Assembly on October 11th 1956, a n d of t h e r e p o r t on t h e r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n the C o n s u l t a t i v e Assembly and t h e W E U Assemb l y , p r e s e n t e d on behalf of t h e Bureau by M. Kiesinger (Doc. 541), in which he makes a f u r t h e r urgent appeal to t h e Ministers, " to d r aw u p w i t h i n t h i s one-year p e r i o d—a n d a t t he h i g h e s t level—a plan for t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of work b e t w e e n t h e v a r i o u s E u r o p e a n organisat i o n s ".

3. Your Committee t h o u g h t it advisable n o t t o l a y down a n y r e a d y - m a d e s o l u t i o n on a m a t t e r of such i m p o r t a n c e , but to modify M. E r l e r ' s original R e c o m m e n d a t i o n b y suggesti n g a p r o c e d u r e which might be followed in t he single field of c u l t u r a l r e l a t i o n s , if t h e Assembly a n d t h e Ministers agreed on t h e need for closer c o l l a b o r a t i o n b e t w e e n W. E. U. a n d t h e Council of Europe.

4. Your Committee therefore s u b m i t s the p r e s e n t draft, which suggests a s t e p - b y - s t ep convergence of t h e c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t i e s of W. E. U. a n d of t h e Council of E u r o p e . It in no way concerns t h e s e t t l e m e n t of r e l a t i o n s between t h e two Assemblies which is u n d e r discussion b e t w e e n their Bureaux. Moreover, whatever decision t h e Assembly m a y t a k e on t h i s exper i m e n t in t h e c u l t u r a l field, it will have no affect upon t h e existing r e l a t i o n s h i p between W. E. U. and t h e Council of E u r o p e in other fields, as, for example, the field of social a c t i v i t i e s .

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