Opinion on the Fourth Annual Report of the O.E.E.C.
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- This Resolution was
adopted by the Assembly at its thirty-second Sitting, 16th January,
1953 (see Doc. 102,
Report of the committee on Economic Questions).
- Thesaurus
1. The Consultative Assembly of the
Council of Europe expresses its thanks to the O.E.E.C. for submitting its
Fourth Annual Report to it for comment. It notes with interest that
the United states and Canada have played a role identical with that
of the member countries of O. E. E.C. in its its preparation and
it expresses the hope that the co-operation between those nations
and the countries of Western Europe will continue to grow in the future.
Nevertheless, the Consultative Assembly regrets that the Report
has not already been translated into a concrete plan of action,
and hopes that when this is done it will be accepted and put into
practice in the same spirit of co-operation.
2. The Consultative Assembly notes with particular satisfaction
the overall progress achieved in the four years since the beginning
of the Marshall Plan. Supported by the generosity of the American
people, the countries of Western Europe have by their joint action
re-established their economies after the war. Large investment programmes
have been undertaken ; industrial production has surpassed the levels
reached in 1938; trade within Europe was restored by the twin policies
of liberalisation commitments and the establishment of a payments
system extending beyond Western Europe herself; and the annual dollar
deficit has been reduced from over $7 billion in 1947 to $ 21/2
billion.
Note
3. But In spite of this progress there is no ground for complacency
today. The present situation is precarious. A dangerous dollar deficit
still remains. In their attempts to balance their hard currency
budgets some European nations have felt forced to take measures
such as curtailing intra-European trade, slowing down their defence
expenditure, cutting their investment programmes, and embarking
on deflationary policies which have halted the rise in their production
and in some cases resulted in unemployment of productive resources.
4. In such grave circumstances Europe, as stressed by the Report,
must be prepared herself to do all she can to secure her economic
independence as soon as possible. But no single policy can solve
her problems. Inflation is at an end in most European countries
and in the present situation deflationary policies may only too easily
be intensified to such an extent that social equilibrium and full
employment policy are affected and the level of production falls.
The nations of Europe should adopte a selective investment policy
giving priority to the production of coal, power, steel, capital
goods using all appropriate and food means whether fiscal, monetary or
physical. Capital must be made more mobile within Europe and new
capital attracted from without by suitable measures taken jointly
by all the O.E.E.C. nations. The obstacles to intra-European trade
must be resolutely attacked and competitive prices on extra-European
markets must be assured by greater productive efficiency, while
in some cases a more flexible foreign exchange policy will have
a part to play. The export drive not only to the United States but
also to Canada and the rest of the dollar world must be intensified.
5. The dollar problem cannot be solved by Europe alone, nor can
it be solved satisfactorily merely by bilateral trade arrangements.
The Assembly thus welcomes the importance attached by the O.E.E.C.
to a return to a triangular pattern of trade between North America,
Europe and the world's under-developed countries. The Assembly would
emphasize again that raising the standard of living of the peoples
of those countries and safeguarding their economies is a duty to
be shouldered by all those whose standard of living is higher. It
reemphasises the political importance of this task and the means
it offers of solving the problem of the world's dollar shortage.
This conception, which lies at the root of the proposals known as
the "Strasbourg Plan", must become the essence of a new moral and
economic impetus in world relations.
6. The nations of Europe have special responsibilities in this
field. Those which have constitutional links with under-developed
countries have already invested much capital overseas. More may
be forthcoming if way sand means can be found for European countries
without such political ties to participate in the effort. The Consultative
Assembly has already suggested that the establishment of a European
Investment Bank for the overseas territories would constitute the
best means of ensuring such additional flows of capital without affecting
the political status of the overseas countries. Capital might also
be attracted in even greater quantities if the market for raw materials
and foodstuffs were stabilised and widened by the negotiation of
further multilateral agreements supplemented by such measures as
international buffer stocks.
7. Europe must do her part, but the field is too great for her
to cover it alone. The under-developed countries cannot be advanced
without the participation of American capital whether it be in the
form of grants, public loans or private investment under some form
of guarantee against non-commercial risk. As expenditure on rearmament
levels off, it may be possible to devote a growing proportion of
the resources of the free world to this task of development. But
the problem of the dollar deficit cannot be solved unless the dollar
defi-overseas are "untied" and may be spent in Europe. Nor can a
triangular pattern of trade be restored unless the United States
is prepared to accept more goods from the outside world for her
own use by reviewing her import and shipping regulations. Without
such action on the part of the United States there is no hope for
multilateralism, and the economic future facing the western world
may well be dark
8. In sum our present economic problems cannot be solved by anything
short of a concerted effort on the part of Europe, of the overseas
countries and of America. The O.E.E.C. Report, the conclusions of
the Commonwealth Conference and the Strasbourg Plan all point in
the same direction. It is imperative that the Governments which
have agreed unanimously to the O.E.E.C. Report should implement
its recommendations. They must act simultaneously and soon. For
the problem is urgent, and only thus can the productive capacity of
each of their peoples be harnessed to the full for the common good
of the whole free world.
