European integration on the eve of the "Summit" Conference of the Nine (General policy of the Council of Europe)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 17 and 18 October 1972 (8th and 9th Sittings) (see Doc. 3179, report of the Political Affairs Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 18 October 1972 (9th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Welcoming the holding of the "Summit" Conference of the member States of the enlarged Community, which must provide a fresh start and a new impetus to the process of European unification ;
2. Also welcoming the conclusion of the free trade agreements between the Community and the non-candidate EFTA countries, and considering it necessary that the Community should also establish closer relations with other member States of the Council of Europe which have not applied for membership,
I.
3. Considers that the decision of Norway not to join EEC represents a step backwards on the path to European unity, and hopes that in time the people of this country will feel ready to take part fully in the enlarged Community ;
4. Considers also that this setback makes it all the more essential for the Summit to reach decisions which will arouse greater interest among the peoples in the building of Europe, by laying the foundations for a real democracy at Community level ;
5. Hopes that the Summit will result in binding commitments to a balanced overall plan in stages to enable the enlarged Community to achieve a full economic and monetary union, and to fulfil its responsibilities towards the rest of the world by providing its institutions with real political authority always subject to democratic control ;
6. Considers that the Summit should establish the following objectives for the internal development of the enlarged Community :
6.1 relaunch progress towards an economic and monetary union by indicating the stages, including the setting-up of a European Fund for Monetary Co-operation and the co-ordination of economic policy with a view to completing the union and creating a single currency by 1980 ;
6.2 deepen the scope of the Community's activities, particularly in the field of social, regional, industrial and research and development policies, in order to adapt the Community to reflect modern political priorities and to ensure the balanced development of the economic and monetary union ;
7. Notes that these objectives will result in the further development of the Community only provided that the Summit can :
7.1 reaffirm that the Community remains the chosen centre for European unification and that its development in these new areas will be accomplished through the transfer of the necessary powers to the Community institutions ;
7.2 ensure that the institutions are strengthened by improving the decision-making process in the Council of Ministers and by reinforcing the independent political role of the Commission ;
7.3 establish interim objectives for increasing parliamentary control over decisions taken by the Council of Ministers and the Commission, and a time-table for the introduction of direct elections to the European Parliament ;
8. Noting that the external responsibilities of the Community will greatly increase as a result of enlargement, considers that the Summit should :
8.1 affirm that the Community will conduct a liberal external trade policy and is ready to initiate, in consultation with other industrialised countries, negotiations for the reform of the international monetary and trade systems ;
8.2 underline that the interests of the developing countries should be taken into account urgently in these negotiations and, as in the case of economic and monetary union, provide for the increase in agreed stages in the aid contributions of member States and the co-ordination of development policies, and that a particular effort should be undertaken in favour of the Mediterranean countries which are Members of the Council of Europe ;
8.3 ensure that the policies of the Community contribute towards the improvement of East-West relations and the preparation of a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe ;
8.4 strengthen the mechanisms for political co-operation, which should be linked to the Community institutions, to enable the Nine to speak with "one voice" in foreign policy issues and in worldwide economic and monetary negotiations ;
II.
9. Considers that everything should be done to ensure that democratic West European countries which are not yet Members of the Community can participate to the fullest possible extent in the process of European unity in order to facilitate their eventual membership of EEC when they wish to do so ;
10. Welcomes the successful outcome of the negotiations between the Community and several of the member States of the Council of Europe which have not applied for membership, as a basis for putting an end to the economic division of Western Europe ;
11. Hopes that, despite the weakness of the institutional arrangements, the evolutionary clause contained in these agreements will be broadly interpreted to allow the neutral countries to participate to the fullest possible extent in the process of European unification ;
12. Reaffirms that the Council of Europe should provide, at parliamentary and at intergovernmental level, the main multilateral forum linking the Community of Nine and its remaining eight Members ;
13. Considers that a division of work between the Community and the Council of Europe must be established on the basis of the following criteria :
13.1 the EEC should undertake action in all areas where the Nine are willing to make further progress, but where other West European countries are not yet ready to follow ;
13.2 in areas, on the other hand, such as human rights, culture and education, protection of the environment, local government, legal and certain social and public health activities, where other West European countries wish to participate in the process of European unification, it is in the general interest that these activities should be developed in the wider framework of the Council of Europe ;
14. Hopes that the Summit will define the enlarged Community's relations with other organisations and in particular the Council of Europe, which is in a position to make a unique contribution to the negotiations between all the States and organisations, whether in Western or Eastern Europe, concerned in planning the future structures of European co-operation.
