373 and 374 CONCLUSIONS of the 373Rd
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COUNCIL CONSEIL OF EUROPE DE L'EUROPE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS CONFIDENTIAL CM/Del/Concl (84) 373 and 374 CONCLUSIONS OF THE 373rd MEETING OF THE MINISTERS' DEPUTIES HELD IN STRASBOURG FROM 28 TO 30 MAY 1984 AND OF THE 374th MEETING OF THE MINISTERS' DEPUTIES HELD IN STRASBOURG FROM 14 TO 22 JUNE 1984 STRASBOURG Confidential CM/Del/Concl(84)373 CONCLUSIONS OF THE 373rd MEETING OF THE MINISTERS' DEPUTIES (held in Strasbourg from 28 to 30 May 1984) CONFIDENTIAL - 1 - CM/Del/Concl(84)373 SUMMARY Page 1. Adoption of the agenda 5 2. The working methods in the Council of Europe - Report of the Ministers' Deputies' working party 7 3. Role of the Council of Europe in the process of European unification - Report of the Ministers' Deputies' working party 23 4. Human Rights Questions - 2nd Interim Report of the Ministers' Deputies' working party 41 5. Cultural Co-operation - Oral progress report by the Chairman of the Ministers' Deputies' working party 45 6. Other business a. Meeting of the Assembly's Standing Committee (Oslo, 28 June 1984) 49 APPENDIX I 373rd meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (A level) (Strasbourg, 28-30 May 1984) - Agenda a1 APPENDIX II Directive from the Committee of Ministers (item 2) to the steering committees and all other committees with programming functions concerning the choice and priority of proposed activities a3 CONFIDENTIAL - 1 - CM/Del/Concl(84)373 The 373rd meeting of the Deputies was opened on Monday, 28 May 1984 at 3 pm, under the Chairmanship of Mr. R. Doise, Deputy for the Minister for External Relations of France. PRESENT AUSTRIA Mr. H.G. Knitel Mr. N. Scherk BELGIUM Mr. A. Vranken Mr. P. Jottard Mr. J. Aelvoet CYPRUS Mr. A. Pouyouros Mr. N. Yiannakis DENMARK Mrs. J. Rechnagel FRANCE Mr. R. Doise, Chairman Mr. B. Widemann Mr. D. Labrosse FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY Mr. K.A. Hampe, Vice Chairman Mr. K. Timmermann Mr. P. Platte GREECE Mr. N. Diamantopoulos Mr. D. Constantinou Mrs. D. Mavroskelidi ICELAND Mrs B Asgeirsdottir IRELAND Mr. M. Flynn ITALY Mr. P.M. Antici Mr. A. Graffini LIECHTENSTEIN HSH Prince Nicholas of Liechtenstein LUXEMBOURG Mr. J. Hostert MALTA Mr. J. Sciberras Mr. G.C. Pulis CONFIDENTIAL CM/Del/Concl(84)373 - 2 - NETHERLANDS Mr. C. Schneider NORWAY Mr. E. Winsnes Mr. L.A. Ulland PORTUGAL Mr. J. Pereira Bastos Mr. J. da Rocha Paris SPAIN Mr. F. Baeza Mr. N. Ferrer Colom Mr. J. Garcia Casas SWEDEN Mr. B. Arvidson SWITZERLAND Mr. T. Raeber Mrs. I. Apelbaum TURKEY Mr. S. Korkud Mr. K. Gür UNITED KINGDOM Mr. C.D. Lush Miss A. Stoddart CONFIDENTIAL - 3 - CM/Del/Concl(84)373 At the opening of the meeting, the Chairman welcomed the Deputy Permanent Representative of Malta, Mr Godwin Pulis, who was attending a meeting of the Committee for the first time. The Chairman recalled that at their previous meeting the Deputies had "agreed to fix 21 June 1984 as the provisional date of their next exchange of views, with the participation of experts, on the United Nations, subject to confirmation at the opening of their 373rd meeting" (Concl(84)372/3, decision 5). After giving delegations time to reflect on this matter, he noted that it appeared to be impossible to find a date during the 374th meeting (June 1984) that would suit all delegations. However, the largest number of delegations had reported that they favoured the exchange of views taking place on Tuesday 19 June 1984, and he therefore proposed that it be held on that date. This was agreed. At the close of the meeting, the Chairman recalled the declaration on the Sakharov affair that the Deputies had adopted at their extraordinary meeting on 24 May 1984 (Concl(84) Ext 24/5), and informed them that the Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris on 30 May 1984, had adopted a communique in which it had warmly supported the declaration of the Committee of Ministers on this matter. CONFIDENTIAL - 5 - CM/Del/Concl(84)373 Item 1 1. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA Decision The Deputies adopted the agenda for their 373rd meeting (28-30 May 1984 - A level) as it appears at Appendix I to these Conclusions. CONFIDENTIAL - 7 - CM/Del/Concl(84)373 Item 2 2. THE WORKING METHODS IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE Report of the Ministers' Deputies' working party (Concl(84)369/2, CM(84)55 and Addendum III) The Secretary General made the following statement: "At the 369th meeting of the Deputies (March 1984, item 2), I told you of my first reactions to the very constructive proposals contained in the various reports of your working parties and particularly in the report on the Council of Europe's working methods (CM(84)55). I noted the working party's proposal in CM(84)111 that a message to steering committees be adopted straightaway concerning voting on activities and on the indication of priorities. I can see only advantages in the adoption of such a message, which would also be helpful to the Secretariat. You will also remember that I said the Secretariat would look more closely into the question of introducing a points evaluation system for activities. The Secretariat has begun a detailed study of this system which is intended to guide the planning of the Council of Europe's intergovernmental activities in the years ahead. However, in view of the importance of this innovation, I believe that it warrants further thought as regards both the system as such and the arrangements for putting it into practice. In any event, such a system could not be implemented unless the draft work programme were geared to it and until the steering committees have all complied with the guidance to be given them in the message which you are being asked to adopt at this meeting. Whatever the system adopted, it cannot in any case be applied until the 1986 draft Programme, since the 1985 Programme is already at an advanced stage of preparation on the basis of proposals already adopted in the case of virtually all the steering committees. That should give us time to give further thought, in view of the probable impact of the proposals, to all its technical and political aspects." The Representative of Portgual made the following statement: CONFIDENTIAL CM/Del/Concl(84)373 - 8 - Item 2 "This delegation wishes to say, first of all, that it is prepared to co-operate not only in the new phase of work of the "methods" group, in which it has already been involved, but also with all the other working parties. Bearing in mind the spirit of CM(84)111, this delegation - which has already put its point of view to the Chairman of the working party on the working methods - wishes to make a number of comments on the further phases of work, particularly as regards the definition of priority criteria for the presentation of draft decisions on these matters. 1. The idea of the Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Willibald Pahr, as set out in CM(82)202 and approved by the Committee of Ministers at its 71st Session, entailed presenting proposals without any indication of priorities, and the various working parties were given very clear terms of reference to that effect. In the present phase of work which, by reason of its innovatory nature, demands long thought and careful reformulation of specific proposals for changing our Organisation's existing procedures, choosing priorities after a single, brief discussion seems to this delegation to be somewhat risky. 2. Where working methods are concerned, the capitals had not had sufficient time by 26 March of this year to make up their minds about CM(84)55, dated the 9th of the same month. As we saw at the 74th Session of the Committee of Ministers moreover, the Ministers did not take any decision on that document, but simply 'instructed their Deputies to submit their proposals on the role of the Council of Europe in the process of European unification and on strengthening and enlarging co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Communities, for their 75th Session in November 1984 and to make suggestions for the possible implementation of those proposals.' 3. That specific decision seems to demonstrate a political priority, which seems to us relevant, but which covers only one of the problems considered by the working party on the working methods: that of the preparation of Conferences of Specialised Ministers; that is a problem of undeniable political importance, already referred to by the Director of Legal Affairs, at the 368th meeting of our Committee (Concl(84)368/24d), in connection with the application of the report on the role of the Council of Europe in the process of European unification (CM(84)63). 4. This delegation accepts the cautious recommendations in para. 2 of CM(84)111 ("the Deputies could resume their examination of this matter in the light of any comments which the Secretary General might wish to make") and in para. 4 of the same document ("the Deputies should then proceed to examine systematically and take a stand on each of the various conclusions"), but it sees more disadvantages than advantages in confining those conclusions to pages (i)-(vi). CONFIDENTIAL - 9 - CM/Del/Concl(84)373 Item 2 5. This delegation was the only one at the 369th meeting of the Deputies (March 1984, item 2) to refer to CM(82)100, in which the Secretary General gave his views on those sub-paragraphs, and paid due tribute to him for his valuable contribution (the Portuguese authorities "were pleased to note that the working party had benefited from the ideas put forward by the Secretary General in his report CM(82)100").