12 May 1995

Doc. 7306

WRITTEN DECLARATION No. 239

on Expo 98

This written declaration commits only the members who have signed it

1.       Expo 98 will open on 22 May 1998, commemorating the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama's voyage to India.

2.       Expo 98 seeks to pay hommage to the pioneer role played by our ancestors at the beginning of the European expansion process of the 15th and 16th centuries.

3.       It seeks above all to enhance our knowledge of the oceans' resources and to increase the international community's awareness of the importance of this heritage and our responsibility towards it.

4.       It seeks to establish a forum which will assess existing knowledge of the oceans and contribute to the creation of new management systems for the planet's water resources as well as to the maintenance of the ecological balance, by means of rational methods in the exploitation of marine resources.

5.       The exposition grounds are beautifully situated on the banks of the River Tejo, in the eastern part of Lisbon, on a former industrial site which is undergoing an exemplary process of urban and environmental rehabilitation.

6.       More than fourteen million visitors are expected in an area dedicated to the sea in all its various aspects: scientific, ecological, economic, artistic and leisure-time.

7.       Of the hundred countries expected to participate, those of Europe are in the front line.

8.       The undersigned, members of the Assembly, accordingly consider it to be of the greatest importance that the Council of Europe be present as a single, autonomous entity, at the last world exposition of the 20th century.

9.       They invite the Council of Europe and the appropriate commissions to contribute to the success of this initiative, with its far-reaching effects, which will indicate new paths of hope for the Blue Planet.

Signed:

Machete, Portugal, LDR

Pinto, Portugal, LDR

Rodrigues, Portugal, UEL

Roseta, Portugal, LDR

Marques, Portugal, LDR

Brito, Portugal, SOC

Poças Santos, Portugal, LDR

Aguiar, Portugal, LDR

Reis Leite, Portugal, LDR

Guidi, Italy, SOC

Roman, Spain, SOC

Guirado, Spain, SOC

Vazquez, Spain, UEL

Jeambrun, France, LDR

Durrieu, France, SOC

Masseret, France, SOC

Mignon, France, EDG

Le Jeune, France, EPP

Briane, France, EPP

Total = 19

*       SOC : Socialist Group

      EPP : Group of the European People's Party

      EDG : European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

      UEL : Group of the Unified European Left