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COUNCIL OF EUROPE

COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

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RESOLUTION (59) 23 (1)

EXTENSION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
IN THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FIELDS

(adopted by the Ministers' Deputies on 16th November 1959 )

The Committee of Ministers,

Having regard to the decision adopted on 21st October 1959 by the Council of Western European Union concerning the exercise of social and cultural activities;

Having regard to Resolution (51) 62 of the Committee of Ministers concerning partial agreements;

Recognising the need for the social and cultural activities listed in the Annex to this Resolution to be exercised henceforth as effectively as they were by Western European Union,

Resolves :

I. Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shall be authorised, to the extent that their Governments may consider necessary, to continue the activities mentioned in the Annex within the framework of the Council of Europe, on the basis of a Partial Agreement.

II. The working methods hitherto employed by WEU will be maintained under this Partial Agreement.

This means that :

1. the liaison section system, which enables officials of the Government departments concerned to keep close contact with one another and provides an efficient means of developing European co-operation at the technical level, will be maintained;

2. the background documentation will continue to be prepared by national delegations;

3. all documentation will remain confidential until its wider distribution has been agreed. This will maintain the existing atmosphere of free and frank discussion;

4. certain meetings will be held away from the headquarters of the Council of Europe in order to enable participants to study on the spot questions within their competence and to enable officials of the host country to become more conversant with European problems.

III. Any activity covered by the Partial Agreement can, as required, be extended to other member States of the Council of Europe.

IV. Committees and sub-committees set up under the Partial Agreement will report on their activities to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which, at meetings limited to representatives of member States parties to the Partial Agreement, will decide what action to take on these reports. The latter will be forwarded, for information, to the competent expert committees of the Council of Europe.

A chapter on the activities in question will be incorporated in the report which the Committee of Ministers is required to submit to the Consultative Assembly.

V. Additional expenditure incurred by the Council of Europe in respect of any activity coming within the purview of the aforesaid Partial Agreement shall be borne solely by the member countries participating in such activity.

VI. The Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, in agreement with the Secretary-General of Western European Union, shall take all necessary executive action to implement this Resolution, in particular as regards the timing of transfer of each particular activity, and make all arrangements for the preservation of archives.

PROCEDURE FOR ACCESSION BY STATES TO THE PARTIAL AGREEMENT
(CM/Del/Concl. (61) 94, point XXIX)

1. If the Government of a member country of the Council of Europe not a party to the Partial Agreement in the social and cultural fields (On account of the adoption of Resolution (61) 40 appended hereto, this procedure for accession now applies only to the social fields) desires to take part in the study of one or more of the questions mentioned in the Annex, as amended on 16th September 1960, to Resolution (59) 23 of 16 November 1959, the Secretary-General shall so inform the Committee of Experts of the Partial Agreement responsible for that particular activity.

2. The member Government concerned will be admitted to membership of the Partial Agreement for the study of the question or questions in which it is interested, unless in the opinion of the responsible Committee of Experts such admission is liable to give rise to technical difficulties. In such a case, the opinion of the Committee of Experts will be brought by the Secretary-General to the notice of the member Government concerned, which will decide whether or not to persist in its intention.

3. Any member Government acceding to the Partial Agreement in respect of all or any of the activities to which that Agreement applies shall undertake to comply with the provisions of Resolution (59) 23 of the Committee of Ministers in respect of such activities and, in particular, to establish the necessary liaison sections in the competent Government departments.

4. The Secretary-General will inform the Committee of Ministers of any accession to the Partial Agreement.

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(1) This Resolution was supplemented by Resolution (61) 40.