Final Reply to Recommendation 1243 (1994) on demographic change and sustainable development (adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 7 February 1995 at the 528th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

15 February 1995

Doc. 7255

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

Final Reply to Recommendation 1243 (1994) on demographic change and sustainable development (adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 7 February 1995 at the 528th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers refers to its interim reply to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1243 (1994) and wishes to convey to the Assembly the following additional remarks.

1. The Committee of Ministers reiterates its conviction that demographic problems are important questions for all European States and that demographic changes may have a significant impact on the socio-economic situation and the environment, in developing countries as well as industrialised countries. These considerations appear both in the conclusions to the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in September 1994 and in those of the European Population Conference held in Geneva in March 1993, organised jointly by the Council of Europe and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

2. Concerning the specific questions referred to by the Parliamentary Assembly in its Recommendation, the Committee of Ministers wishes to make the following remarks:

item 9.i - Some aspects pertaining to the situation of women - such as fertility, mortality, family formation - are dealt with in the European Population Committee's (CDPO) annual demographic reports. They were highlighted at the European Population Conference which stressed the importance of women's status in society and the role it plays in family planning. As for preparations for the 4th World Conference on Women, apart from the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG), the CDPO has also made a contribution in the form of a report on "The demographic and socio-economic context of childbearing".

item 9.ii - A Mediterranean Conference on Population is currently being prepared, organised by the CDPO, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe and the North-South Centre. This Conference, to be held in Spain in 1996, will deal with the situation resulting from the demographic and socio-economic imbalances between the two sides of the Mediterranean, and issues raised by migratory flows and development co-operation. A series of studies just completed by the CDPO has been, or is about to be, published on subjects such as "The future of Europe's population " (1993), "Political and demographic aspects of migration flows to Europe" (1993) and "Migration and development co-operation" (1995).

item 9.iii - Since 1973, the European Population Committee (as it is now called) has been contributing to an awareness of demographic trends when member States shape their social and economic policies by providing them with data, analyses and reports, as shown by its periodical and occasional publications. Education in demography has been one of the CDPO's concerns in recent years - in 1993 the Committee published a study entitled "Information and education in demography".

The Rio Declaration and the Programme of Action adopted at the Cairo Conference highlight the need to deal with a certain sense of urgency with the problems of sustainable development and protection of the environment. For its part, the CDPO will contribute to the debate on these major issues, within the extent of its powers and according to the resources allocated to it in the Council of Europe's Intergovernmental Programme of Activities.