§ Mr. Atkinsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a statement about the future of the European Productivity Agency.
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerThe European Productivity Agency of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, which was established in June, 1953, has hitherto been financed partly by a "once for all" grant by the United States, and partly by contributions by O.E.E.C. member countries from counterpart funds derived from United States economic aid under Section 9 C of the Mutual Security Act, 1952. The United Kingdom contribution was £254,000. It was anticipated that these funds, together with an annual appropriation of approximately 150 million French francs from the O.E.E.C. budget, would be sufficient to finance the activities of the Agency for an initial period of up to three years.
The question of extending the life of the European Productivity Agency beyond the period for which financial provision has already been made has been considered by the Council of the O.E.E.C. in Paris and has resulted in a unanimous declaration of intent, to which Her Majesty's Government have subscribed, to support the extension of the life of the Agency for a further three years provided that suitable arrangements can be made on the future financing of the Agency, which is to be further discussed. Her Majesty's Government have offered, subject to Parliamentary approval, and provided that the revised arrangements as a whole are satisfactory, to contribute up to an overall maximum of £150,000 per annum for this purpose.
117WIt will not in any case be necessary for such a contribution to be made until our general contribution to the O.E.E.C. for the financial period 1957–58 is made, as the Agency's present funds have proved to be sufficient to finance its activities until 30th June, 1957.