The Assembly,
Taking note of the report on the activities of OECD in 1973 (Doc. 3426) and the reply thereto of its Committee onEconomic Affairs and Development (Doc. 3472) ;
2. Deeply concerned by the continuing difficulties that the substantial increase of oil prices is causing to the balance ofpayments of many countries ;
3. Deploring the stagnation in international economic co-operation in a period of increased economic interdependenceamong nations ;
4. Conscious of the serious consequences that the present rates of inflation could have for advanced democraticcountries,
5. Stresses the responsibility of all European parliamentarians, both in government and in opposition, to make theelectorate aware of the implications of continued inflation and appreciate the need for firm policies to restoreeconomic health to Western Europe as a whole ;
6. Recalling its Resolution 566 (1974) on the energy problem, in particular paragraph 7, and emphasising that theseproblems should continue to be dealt with by the appropriate existing international organisations, supports the creationof the International Energy Agency in the framework of OECD, and invites parliaments and governments of thoseCouncil of Europe member states belonging to that organisation, together with the other OECD member countries, todecide that their countries take full part in the Agency's activities.
7. Calls upon OECD and its member countries :
to foster effective co-operation in the fields of trade, international capital flows and monetary matters, in the spirit ofthe declaration adopted by the OECD Ministerial Council on 30 May 1974 ;
to co-ordinate closely their anti-inflationary policies with their social policies, in order to avoid the less privilegedsections of the population bearing the main burden of the fight against inflation ;
to pay increasing attention to structural reforms, in order to favour the harmonious development of theeconomically weaker member states of the organisation ;
to adapt more consciously their machineries to the economic challenges which our society will face in theremaining quarter of this century ;
8. Welcoming the fruitful co-operation between OECD and the Council of Europe in the field of science andtechnology ;
9. Welcoming the work being undertaken by OECD on the development and utilisation of social sciences, particularlywith regard to the association of social sciences with policy making ;
10. Welcoming OECD's work on the methodological aspect of technology assessment, hopes that this work will helptowards solving some of society's problems in the technological age ;
11. Welcoming OECD's initiative to start work in the field of innovation in the procedures and structures ofgovernment, hopes that parliaments and governments will participate actively in this work ;
12. Convinced that one of OECD's most important roles is that of remaining a forward-looking "think-tank"organisation ;
13. Welcoming the holding of the next meeting of OECD Ministers of Science in 1975, believes that there is room forimprovement concerning follow-up action to proposals made at previous ministerial meetings ;
14. Recalling the work started in 1971 on multinational enterprises and taking into account the publication by the UNof a report on the matter,
15. Calls upon OECD and its member countries :
to ensure that the next Ministerial Meeting on Science serves the threefold purpose of taking stock of action onproposals of the preceding conference, of bringing to ministerial attention issues of likely future importance to membercountries, and of giving new impetus to OECD's work ;
to proceed to the publication of a comprehensive study of the role of multinational enterprises in the areasmentioned in the opinion of its Committee on Science and Technology (Doc.3476) and in the January 1974 opinion ofthis committee (Doc. 3390) ;
16. Welcomes the participation of a Japanese parliamentary delegation in its debate on the activities of OECD,reaffirms its role as an informal parliamentary forum for OECD, and expresses the hope that the OECD Council willbe able to consider the present resolution as part of a continuing dialogue between the organisation and the Assembly.