Resolution No. 5 on The role and status of the conference and its future activities
The European ministers responsible for regional planning, having carefully studied the problems and possibilities of technical co-operation in regional planning in Europe, adopt the following resolution. They transmit the resolution to the Council of Europe and invite its Committee of Ministers to establish the necessary administrative and budgetary framework for the implementation of such co-operation, and to address the resolution to international intergovernmental organisations working in this field in Europe, who are invited to take note of it and, where appropriate, apply the principles of it in the formulation of their own programmes.
Part I – The work of the conference
The ministers of regional planning,
1. Recording with satisfaction the progress made since the last conference on technical co-operation in regional planning, as noted in the activity report of the Committee of Senior Officials, and convinced that the growing importance of urban and regional planning warrants the continuation and development of these activities at a European level;
2. Believing that a decisive step has been marked in this respect by the inclusion of a sector on regional planning into the work programme and medium-term plan of the Council of Europe;
3. Considering that the European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning constitutes the appropriate forum for the development on an increasingly wide geographical scale of co-operation in technical and planning matters;
4. Instruct the Committee of Senior Officials:
To prepare the 4th Conference.
The ministers accept with gratitude the invitation of the Turkish Minister to hold the fourth session of the conference in Turkey in 1978 and accordingly instruct the Committee of Senior Officials to make the necessary arrangements for preparing the theme of the conference according to the instructions by their respective ministers.
5. Request the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to instruct the competent committee:
A. To take the necessary steps for the implementation of the resolutions of the 3rd Conference,
B. To study the necessity and possibility of creating at a European level an instrument for co-ordinating and conducting studies and research of common interest in the field of town and country planning,
C. To study the possibility of organising in 1980 a European Year of Urban Renewal,
D. To continue technical co-operation in the following fields:
i. Long-range forecasting
Stressing the crucial importance of long-range forecasting to regional planning, the ministers agree that forecasting studies should be continued; in particular such studies should be undertaken for population, demographic structures and employment prospects and for trends in areas of depopulation and concentration.
Consideration should also be given to methods of forecasting and to the statistical instruments necessary to them, with a view to facilitating their closer alignment and harmonisation by means of symposia and regular meetings of experts.
ii. Cartography
Congratulating the Committee of Senior Officials on the production of harmonised maps on urbanisation for the 3rd Conference, the ministers invite the Committee of Ministers to instruct the competent committee to continue with the harmonisation of cartographic methods, the study of the application of automated techniques to cartography, the preparation of thematic maps and the pursuance of a seminar series for regional planners and cartographers, following the success of the first, held in 1975 at Enschede, Netherlands.
iii. Regional statistics
Underlining that all work in technical co-operation requires common statistical data, the ministers invite the Committee of Ministers to instruct the competent committee to continue the promotion of European co-operation in this field, conducted where necessary through co-operation with international organisations and institutions.
iv. Terminology
Underlining that intensified efforts in the harmonisation of terminology in regional planning is necessary for the further development of a common understanding, the ministers request the Committee of Ministers to instruct the competent committee to place an increased emphasis on this aspect of its technical work.
Part II – The role and status of the conference
A. Within the Council of Europe
Mindful that the extent of the work as described in this resolution underlines the increasing importance of regional planning in Europe, and therefore conscious that this development reinforces and expands the political role that the conference must therefore play as an instrument of European intergovernmental co-operation, the ministers invite the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe:
i. to continue to draw up and further develop the regional planning sector of the Council of Europe work programme and medium-term plan;
ii. to give the secretariat the necessary resources for the implementation of the conference resolutions and the regional planning sector of the work programme of the Council of Europe.
B. With the European Communities
The ministers urge the establishment of closer dialogue and co-operation with the European Communities in fields of common interest.
C. With the European Conference of Ministers of Transport
The Committee of Senior Officials should continue to explore the pursuit of a joint programme with the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT), the elements of which to be defined at joint meetings between this committee and the Committee of Deputies of the ECMT.
The ministers welcome the work already undertaken for a first joint seminar, which could be held in 1977, as a step in the establishment of the future programme of co-operation.
The ministers also welcome the generous offer of the Turkish Government to act as host for a joint conference between ministers of regional planning and these of transport. They instruct the Committee of Senior Officials to study the possibilities of realising this conference.
D. With the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The ministers welcome the close co-operation that has developed with the OECD and requests the Committee of Ministers to ensure the continuation of this co-operation.
E. With the UN Economic Commission for Europe
The ministers encourage close co-operation with the work of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
The ministers also wish to see the continuation of full co-operation with the work on regional statistics being done by the Conference of European Statisticians.