§ Mr. Peelasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will Rive further details about the offer of fellowships to post-graduate students from other European countries.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleYes. I drew the attention of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 15th May to the statement that Her Majesty's Government would make available 50 such24W fellowships in 1973–74, under a scheme to be administered by the British Council. I expressed the hope that offers of similar awards by other European Governments might enable the scheme to develop as a multilateral initiative under the auspices of the Council of Europe in which case Her Majesty's Government would be willing to consider increasing the number of their own awards in subsequent years.
This proposal is now for consideration by other Governments. It is the view of Her Majesty's Government that a multilateral scheme, if it comes into being, should be seen against the background of existing schemes and should consist essentially of a network of bilateral arrangements, with the minimum of central machinery. The Council of Europe would nevertheless play an essential rôle in keeping the scheme under review and making recommendations for its future progress.