§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what supervisory body is to be established to implement the decisions of the Helsinki Conference for Security and Co-operation and what initiative they have taken to establish bilateral or multilateral meetings to apply the decisions.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)My Lords, the signatory States agreed that it would be for each State to take the necessary steps, unilaterally and, where appropriate, with other States, to implement the decisions of the Conference. Multilateral action will be largely conducted within the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and 2 UNESCO. The Review Meeting in 1977 will make a thorough assessment of the extent to which the Conference decisions have been put into effect, and in the light of this assessment will consider proposals for continuing the dialogue in future, for example by further meetings or possibly even a new conference. Meanwhile, we are working closely with our friends and allies both in the political co-operation machinery of the Nine and in the North Atlantic Alliance.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, while very much welcoming that statement, which anticipates a proposal I was going to make, may I ask the Minister whether the Communist countries as well as the West have accepted the idea that the European Economic Commission should act in this manner, or is it at present just an exploratory proposal?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, they are all signatories to the Articles of Agreement, on page 51 of which, under the heading "Follow-up Arrangements", precisely this course is agreed to by 35 countries, including the Communist countries.
§ Lord CARRINGTONMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether the Government are satisfied with the attitude of the Soviet Union and the East European countries after the signing of the Helsinki Pact?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, it is perhaps early to pronounce judgment. The agreement was concluded on 1st August, some seven weeks ago. 3 August in Europe, as here, is somewhat a month of recess and, apart from certain hardworking Upper Chambers, to some extent September is also.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, while we welcome the pressure which the Prime Minister has exerted on the Communist countries to carry out the obligations, is it not also the case that as a result of that pressure a number of them are putting into operation the proposals made?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSYes, my Lords, the Prime Minister in particular, for instance in his recent visit to Romania, has very strongly urged, not without success, bilaterally, a forthcoming attitude on basket III provisions—in particular Movement of People and Ideas.
If I may revert to the question put by the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, we agree that it is of the highest importance that the progress of implementation should be scrupulously watched and that representation should be made whenever it seems to us that there is no clear intention of implementing this very important agreement.