Report | Doc. 138 | 11 May 1953
Obtain for the Secretariat-General of the Council of Europe representation on the Interim Committee of the European Conference on Agriculture
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
A. Draft Recommendation
(open)The Assembly,
Expressing its satisfaction at the invitation extended to a number of its members, in pursuance of Resolution (52) 36 of the Committee of Ministers, to attend as observers the European Conference on Agriculture held in March, 1953;
Recalling its Recommendations 8 (1951) and 24 (1952) that the Consultative Assembly be kept regularly informed of progress achieved in the preparatory work for the creation of a European Agricultural Community;
Recalling that the Preparatory Conference decided on 26th March, 1952, t h a t any resulting draft Treaty or Convention, when initialled, would be submitted to the Council of Europe for its opinion before signature;
Having regard to the importance of co-ordinating the activities of all organisations whose object is to further the economic unification of Europe;
Considering that the creation of a European Agricultural Community, apart from i ts purely technical implications, also raises political questions, mainly of an institutional nature ;
Considering that the admission of Council of Europe observers to the European Conference on Agriculture gave reason to suppose that they would also be permitted to attend the proceedings of the Interim Committee ;
Regretting that it is not possible for the Council of Europe, without the assistance of observers, to keep in touch with the work of the Interim Committee set up by the European Conference on Agriculture, and that the Council may therefore haA'e to express its opinion on a draft Convention or Treaty without knowledge of the preliminary work,
Recommends that the Committee of Ministers should take appropriate steps to ensure that a representative of the Council of Europe be invited to attend the meetings of the Interim Committee in the capacity of observer.
B.
(open)1. Explanatory Memorandum
Before suspending its work, the European Agricultural Conference which met at Paris from 16th to 21st March, 1953, decided to set up an " Interim Committee " of delegates from the Governments concerned for the purpose of drawing up definite proposals as to :
Point 2 of this Resolution is of particular interest to the Council of Europe in view of its political implications.
The interest which the Assembly has always shown in agricultural matters, the work done and discussions held at Strasbourg since 1949 on the organisation of markets, gave it reason to hope t h a t it would be kept regularly informed through the Secretariat of current progress made in a subject promoted by the Council of Europe.
This hope was strengthened by the fact t h a t other international organisations such as O. E. E. C. and F. A. 0 . were closely associated with the work of the Interim Committee. Such co-operation, fully justified as it is from the technical aspect, is equally so from the political angle by t h e presence of observers from the Council of Europe.
Despite approaches made to the organisers and the Chairman of the Conference however, and despite the intervention of observers at the Plenary Conference, the Council has not been allowed to co-operate with the Interim Committee. This absence of any true and permanent contact is the more regrettable since one of the decisions of the Preparatory Conference in March, 1952, provides that any possible draft Treaty would be submitted to t he Assembly after initialling and before signature
Such a contradictory position needs to be stressed since it may be questioned to what extent the Assembly would be in a position to pronounce an opinion on a draft while lacking any knowledge of the lines along which it had been originally planned and developed.
The Special Committee on Agriculture has therefore unanimously decided to submit the attached draft Recommendation to the Assembly.