Motion for a Recommendation
The Assembly
R e f e r r i n g to Recommendation 81 (1955) whereby the Consultative Assembly r e q u e s t e d t h e Committee of Ministers to propose t o t h e Member S t a t e s " t h e e x t e n s i o n to t h e n a t i o n a l s of t h e other member countries of certain travel facilities and advantages g r a n t e d by a member c o u n t r y to its own n a t i o n a l s ";
Considering t h a t t h e war disabled of v a r i o u s Member S t a t e s of t h e Council of Eur o p e enjoy, in their own countries, special t r a v e l facilities, p a r t i c u l a r l y with regard to r a i l w a y fares;
Considering t h a t an Agreement on t he E x c h a n g e of War Disabled with a view to Medical T r e a t m e n t was signed on 1 3 t h December 1955 by all t h e Member S t a t e s of t h e Council of E u r o p e;
Considering t h a t exchange and cont a c t s b e t w e e n war v i c t i m s s t r e n g t h e n t h e bonds of friendship between i n d i v i d u a l s and peoples a n d s u b s t i t u t e comprehension and solidarity for past h o s t i l i t y ; t h a t these exchanges and c o n t a c t s are essential to E u r o p e a n reconciliat i o n a n d f r i e n d s h i p ; and t h a t i t is c o n s e q u e n t ly n e c e s s a r y t o p r o m o t e a n d favour t h e m;
Considering, moreover, t h a t it would be well, for h u m a n i t a r i a n reasons, to give special a t t e n t i o n to t h e case of war disabled persons unable t o t r a v e l alone or who have difficulty moving about alone,
R e c o m m e n d s to the Committee of Ministers t h e a d o p t i o n of a draft Agreement t o t h e following effect :
ARTICLE 1
T h e war disabled, as defined in the l e g i s l a t i o n of each of t h e Member S t a t e s shall, when t h e y t r a v e l t o and during t h e i r s t a y in one of t h o s e S t a t e s , enjoy t h e r e d u c t i o n s of or e x e m p t i o n s from railway fares which that S t a t e g r a n t s t o its own war disabled.
ARTICLE 2
The guide accompanying a war d i s a b l e d p e r s o n u n a b l e t o move a b o u t alone or who has difficulty moving about alone shall enjoy t h e exemptions or reductions granted b y t h e r e g u l a t i o n s or l e g i s l a t i o n of t h e c o u n t ry concerned.
ARTICLE 3
The a d v a n t a g e s specified in Articles 1 a n d 2 of t h e p r e s e n t Agreement shall b e accorded u p o n p r e s e n t a t i o n of a E u r o p e a n document a p p r o v e d by the Governments and s t a t i ng t h a t t h e holder, w h e t h e r war disabled person or guide, enjoys t h e benefits of t h e provisions of t h e present Agreement.
ARTICLE 4
The laws and r e g u l a t i o n s in force in t h e t e r r i t o r i e s of t h e C o n t r a c t i n g P a r t i e s and t o which t h e present Convention applies, and t h e reservations formulated by Contracting P a r t i e s , are set f o r t h in Annex I a n d Annex II r e s p e c t i v e l y .
ARTICLE 5
The p r e s e n t Agreement shall be open t o t h e s i g n a t u r e of t h e Members of t h e Council of E u r o p e who m a y accede t o it either b y :
I n s t r u m e n t s of r a t i f i c a t i o n shall be d e p o s i t e d with the Secretary-General of t he Council of Europe.
ARTICLE 6
The present Agreement shall enter i n t o force on t h e first day of t h e m o n t h followi n g t h e d a t e on which t h r e e Members of the Council shall, in accordance with Article 5, h a v e signed t h e Agreement w i t h o u t reservat i o n in respect of r a t i f i c a t i o n or shall have r a t i f i e d it.
I n the case of any Member of the Council who s u b s e q u e n t l y shall sign t h e Agreem e n t w i t h o u t r e s e r v a t i o n in respect of ratific a t i o n , or who shall r a t i f y it, t h e Agreement shall enter i n t o force on t h e first day of the m o n t h following such s i g n a t u r e or deposit of t h e i n s t r u m e n t of ratification.
ARTICLE 7
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of E u r o p e m a y i n v i t e a n y non-Member S t a t e to accede to the present Agreement. Such accession shall t a k e effect on t h e first d a y of t h e m o n t h following t h e deposit of t he i n s t r u m e n t of accession.
ARTICLE 8
The S e c r e t a r y - G e n e r a l of t h e Council of E u r o p e shall notify Members of t h e Council :
ARTICLE 9
The present Agreement shall remain i n force indefinitely.
Any C o n t r a c t i n g P a r t y m a y t e r m i n a te i t s own a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e Agreement b y giving one y e a r ' s n o t i c e t o t h a t effect t o t h e S e c r e t a r y - General of t h e Council of Europe.
I n witness whereof the undersigned, b e i n g duly a u t h o r i s e d to t h a t effect, have signed t h e p r e s e n t Agreement.
Donc - a t - (date)
Explanatory Memorandum
1. In i t s R e c o m m e n d a t i o n 81 (1955), t he C o n s u l t a t i v e Assembly of t h e Council of Eur o p e i n s t r u c t e d its Committee of Ministers t o propose t o t h e Member Governments " t he e x t e n s i o n t o t h e n a t i o n a l s of t h e other member c o u n t r i e s of c e r t a i n t r a v e l facilities and advant a g e s g r a n t e d b y a member c o u n t r y t o i t s own n a t i o n a l s ".
R a p i d i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of t h i s recomm e n d a t i o n is p a r t i c u l a r l y desirable in regard t o p r o v i d i n g t r a n s p o r t facilities for war cripples a n d t h e war disabled.
2. Almost all of t h e Member S t a t e s have l e g i s l a t i o n or r e g u l a t i o n s concerning t h i s matt e r , but such provisions are not i d e n t i c a l in e i t h e r t h e n a t u r e or scope of t h e a d v a n t a g es offered.
One c a n n o t h o p e t o p u t a n end q u i c k ly t o t h i s d i v e r s i t y . The less f a v o u r a b l e n a t i o n al s y s t e m s cannot be s y s t e m a t i c a l l y raised to t h e level of t h e more generous ones, and it would be u n r e a s o n a b l e to ask t h e l a t t e r to b a s e t h e i r practices, even p a r t i a l l y , on those of t h e former. This being t h e case, uniform i t y in this m a t t e r , though desirable, does n o t appear possible in t h e i m m e d i a t e future.
I t is t h e r e f o r e necessary t o t a k e into a c c o u n t t h e d i v e r s i t y a m o n g t h e v a r i o u s n a t i o n al s y s t e m s . The p r e s e n t project is t h u s based on t h e following principle : each Member S t a te u n d e r t a k e s to g r a n t to t h e war disabled citizens of t h e other Member States t h e reduct i o n s in fare t h a t it grants to its own war disabled.
3. By v i r t u e of this principle, which is faithful to both the spirit and l e t t e r of R e c o m m e n d a t i o n 81, a Member State that g r a n t s no t r a n s p o r t facilities t o its war victims c a n n o t be obliged t o g r a n t such facilities t o t he citizens of t h e other Member S t a t e s . In addit i o n , it lies with those Governments which g r a n t reductions to their war disabled to decide w h e t h e r t h e y are willing, nevertheless, t o g r a n t , w i t h o u t d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , s u c h r e d u c t i o ns t o foreign war disabled, even t o t h o s e who do n o t enjoy any p a r t i c u l a r a d v a n t a g e in their own country.
4. The case of war disabled persons who a r e u n a b l e t o t r a v e l alone or who h a v e diffic u l t y moving a b o u t alone should be t r e a t ed w i t h special h u m a n i t a r i a n consideration
We t h i n k t h a t such consideration s h o u l d also i n c l u d e r e d u c t i o n s or exemptions for t h e guide a c c o m p a n y i n g t h e d i s a b l e d when t h e y t r a v e l a b r o a d , such r e d u c t i o n s or exemptions to be t h e same as t h o s e g r a n t e d by t he r a i l r o a d s t o t h e i r own n a t i o n a l s.
5. In any event, t h e p r e s e n t project is of a n a t u r e t o p r o v i d e an a p p r e c i a b l e contribut i o n t o t h e f o r m a t i o n of t h e s p i r i t of E u r o p e an s o l i d a r i t y which is t h e major objective of t he Council of E u r o p e . In f a v o u r i n g e x c h a n g e s a nd c o n t a c t s among war victims (though without i n v o l v i n g i m p o r t a n t financial repercussions on t h e economy of the various r a i l r o a d s ) , and, p a r t i c u l a r l y , i n s u b s t i t u t i n g new u n d e r s t a n d i ng a n d f r i e n d s h i p for former h o s t i l i t y , i t c o n s t i t u t es one of t h e bases of E u r o p e a n r e c o n c i l i a t i o n and one of t h e seeds of peace for m a n k i n d.