The seventh annual meeting of the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries was held in Portugal from May 20 to 25, 1957. The Commission approved the recommendation of the Committee on Finance and Administration to appropriate $45,175 for the year 1957/58 and noted that the committee had adopted a budget estimate for the year 1958/59 of $48,500. An ad hoc committee considered matters of administration and management and made the following recommendation, inter alia: that the commissioners of the member countries should be asked to furnish on behalf of their governments the texts of the national laws or regulations giving effect to the mesh regulations prescribed by the Commission, information on the measures taken to make known to the fishermen the requirements of the mesh regulations, and an annual return showing what inspections had taken place and with what results. The Commission accepted this and other recommendations.

The Council of the ANZUS Pacific Security Pact met in Washington on October 2, 1958. It was reported that the major emphasis during the meeting was given to the situation existing in the Formosa Straits. Thus in a statement issued following the meeting, the three member governments, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, called on the Chinese communists to discontinue their attacks on Quemoy and Matsu as a first step to a peaceful settlement. According to the press, the statement also expressed the principle that armed force should not be used to achieve territorial ambitions, and indicated agreement among the participants that militant and subversive communist expansionism remained the greatest threat to the peaceful progress of the free world. The member governments of ANZUS were represented as follows: for the United States, Mr. Dulles (Secretary of State), for Australia, Mr. Casey (Minister for External Affairs), and for New Zealand, Mr. Nash (Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs).

The Administrative Council of ‘the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held its fourteenth session in Geneva from May 19 to June 12, 1959, under the chairmanship of Mr. Alfred F. Langenberger (Switzerland). In preparation for the 1959 conferences, the Council decided to prepare a report for submission to the forthcoming Administrative Radio Conference relating to the implementation of the Atlantic City Table of Frequency Allocations; the report summarized the action taken by the Council with respect to the situation prior to the Extraordinary Administrative Radio Conference, held in Geneva in 1951, and with respect to that arising from the decisions of that Conference. As usual during the session of the Council prior to a Plenipotentiary Conference, the Council also drew up its report to the 1959 Conference on the recent activities of the Union, including questions calling for special attention by the Conference. In its final form, the report was in three parts: Part I related to the activities of the Council and ITU from 1953 to 1959; Part II dealt with the staff and finances of the Union; and Part III covered the various questions to be brought to the attention of the Plenipotentiary Conference. Chief among these matters were the possible assimilation of Union salaries, allowances, and pensions to those of the UN common system, the possible introduction of a consolidated budget and a Working Capital Fund, and problems set by the “ceiling” for the ordinary expenses of the Union.

The 23d session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) was held in Geneva from January 20 to February 3, 1959. The Director-General's proposed program of activities and budget estimates for 1960 were examined by the Board, and their adoption was recommended to the Twelfth World Health Assembly. The budget showed an increase of $1,251,960 or 8.25 percent over the revised budget for 1959, for a total estimate of $16,418,700; the proposed program reflected a new trend in the work of WHO, namely, the widening of the concept of control to that of eradication in the case of such communicable diseases as malaria, smallpox, and yaws, and eventually tuberculosis and leprosy. In addition, certain activities were to be expanded, including vital and health statistics services, nutrition surveys, the control of bilharziasis, research, and the teaching of psychiatry and mental health techniques.

A meeting of the Working Group on Numerical Weather Analysis and Forecasting of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) was held in Stockholm from March 2 to 6, 1959, for the purpose of reviewing the present status in the fields of numerical weather analysis and forecasting; outlining present research and likely developments in the future; and specifying problems arising from the utilization of numerical methods for weather analysis and forecasting. These last included training of personnel, communication facilities, and the international collaboration required for successful programs of work in weather analysis and forecasting. A one-group code, capable of extension as the need arose, was proposed for the transmission of essential data.

The Council of the Arab League opened its 30th session in Cairo on October 1, 1958, and adjourned on October 18. At its first meeting, the Council accepted membership applications from Morocco and Tunisia, bringing the number of member states of the League to ten. It was reported that on October 11 the Tunisian representative, Mr. Habib el-Shatti, charged that some Arab countries were seeking to dominate proceedings and that the Arab League was working for only one faction and receiving orders from one member. The chief delegate of the United Arab Republic then withdrew from the meeting with the rest of his delegation. Later, it was reported, the Tunisian representative announced that his delegation was withdrawing from the League's session because, in his words, no worthwhile work could be accomplished within the League as long as there was no faith between Tunisia and the United Arab Republic. The United Arab Republic delegation returned to the Council meeting on October 14 after the Tunisian delegate's remarks concerning the domination of the League's activities by certain states had been expunged from the records. It was recorded that on October 18 the Council agreed to assess the members of the League £12 million Egyptian ($34,400,000 at the official rate of exchange) for support of the revolt in Algeria. This sum was to be part of the League's budget and so was binding on all members.

The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held its 54th session in Paris, June 1–12, 1959. Under the heading, Execution of the Program, th Board took the following decisions, inter alia:1) to appoint a rapporteur, commissione to follow the successive discussions of the Director-General ‘s reports by the Board, for the purpose of assisting in the preparation of comments by the Board on these reports for information to the General Conference at its forthcoming session; 2) to authorize the Director-General to request the Technical Assistance Committee to contribute for 1960 a sum of $505, 779 toward the Headquarters costs of administering the Technical Assistance Program; 3) to designate twelve Member States— namely, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and the United States—which were to be entitled to appoint a representative for two years on the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee for the Major Project on the Extension of Primary Education in Latin America; 4) to request the Director-General to accept the invitation of the government of Denmark to hold in Denmark in i960 an intergovernmental conference on international oceanographic research and training vessels; 5) to approve the celebration of the anni- 1 Document 54 EX/Decisions, June 22, 1959. For a summary of the 33d session, see International Organization, Spring 1939 (Vol. 13, No. 2), p. 324. versaries of the great personalities (Frederic Chopin and Charles Darwin) listed in one of the documents before the Board; and 6) to authorize the Director-General to signify UNESCO&'s agreement in principle to the proposals by the government of the United Arab Republic concerning international action for the study and protection of the archaeological monuments of Nubia threatened by submergence as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

The International Wheat Council held its 24th session in the Council's headquarters in Haymarket House, London, on June 25 and 26, 1958. The Council decided that the Secretary-General of the UN should be requested to convene a conference early in 1959 to negotiate a possible renewal or replacement of the International Wheat Agreement, which would enter into force when the present agreement expired on July 31, 1959. The agreement regulated the quantities of wheat exported and imported by participating countries, set a price range for wheat traded under it, and was intended to ensure greater economic stability to the international wheat trade.

The sixth session of the Council of the Baghdad Pact, meeting on the ministerial level, was held in Karachi January 26–28, 1959. In its communique issued following the meeting the Council reaffirmed the value of the pact for defensive military cooperation as well as economic and technical cooperation in raising living standards. The statement said that the greater part of the meeting had been devoted to a frank exchange of views on the international situation. The Council agreed that more use should be made of regular meetings of the Council of Deputies at the headquarters of the pact for the sake of political solidarity. The offer of the United Kingdom government to equip a new nuclear center for training in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy was welcomed by the Council; it was decided that the center should be located in Teheran. As pointed out by one source, no reference was made in the communique either to the situation in Iraq or to Iraq's association with the pact.

The third part of the tenth session of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe was held from January 19 to 22, 1959. Mr. Hamdi Ragip Atademir (Turkish Democrat), Vice-President of the Assembly, informed the Assembly that the President had sent invitations to the United States Congress and to the Canadian Parliament with a view to organizing a second Strasbourg Conference between delegations of the two parliaments in question and a delegation of the Consultative Assembly. Acting on behalf of Mr. Selwyn Lloyd, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, Lord Lansdowne, United Kingdom Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, then presented the Second Supplementary Report of the Committee to the Assembly. Speakers in the general debate on the Report stressed the necessity for better coordination of these two main organs of the Council.

The Executive and Liaison Committee of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) met in Berne from May 14 to 23, 1959, under the presidency of Mr. A. Wolstencroft (United Kingdom). In dealing with the agenda, the Committee approved without reservation the report of the activities of UPU for 1958. Several questions on the relation of UPU to the UN were treated at this time with reciprocal understanding. The examination of the reports of the subcommittees on the progress in their respective tasks figured prominently in the discussion; the Committee did not, however, come to a decision on tariff policy, although it did decide that the present scales of transit rates needed to be revised. The subcommittee scheme regarding the eventual issue of an international postage stamp met with serious opposition; at the end of the discussion, it was decided that examination of the problem should be continued, but no decision was taken. The agenda contained also several points of an administrative character concerning the organization and the working of the International Bureau and the examination of various proposals submitted by administrations.

The European Parliamentary Assembly opened its ordinary session for 1959 on January 7. Mr. Robert Schuman, former French premier and initiator of die European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), was re-elected President by acclamation. The ensuing debates covered a wide field, including the opening up of markets, the problem of competition, a European program for energy resources, industrial safeguards, hygiene and the protection of health, social policy, shortening of the working week in the coal and steel industries of the Community, transport problems, a long-term economic policy, agricultural problems, and the form of association for overseas territories and dependencies.

According to press reports from Beirut, Lebanon, on August 11 and 18, 1959, representatives of nine Arab states—all the members of the Arab League except Tunisia—were preparing a lengthy reply to the suggestion of Mr. Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary-General of the UN, that the Palestine refugees being sheltered by various Arab countries be economically integrated into these countries. Spokesmen for the Arab states declared at the end of a tenday conference that they would unanimously support the refugees' demand to return to their homes in what had become the state of Israel; this was tantamount to rejection of Mr. Hammarskjold's proposal to spend $1.5–$2 billion within the next five years to create productive jobs for about one million refugees living in Arab lands. Although the Secretary-General had asserted that economic integration would not prejudice any rights of the refugees, the Arabs interpreted the plan to mean that the refugees would be permanently resettled among them. Apparently the only part of Mr. Hammarskjold's report that was acceptable to the Arabs was that calling for the continued existence of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the organization administering the relief program for refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and the United Arab Republic.

The 26th meeting of the Caribbean Commission was held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, May 28 to June 2, 1958. Speakers at the meeting extended congratulations and best wishes to the new Federation of The West Indies. The Commission decided to invite its member governments to establish an ad hoc committee to make preparations for a full-scale Conference to Revise the Agreement Establishing the Commission. The contemplated revision was intended to improve the Commission and to make it more efficient as an instrument of regional cooperation. The provisional agenda for this ad hoc committee, accepted by the Commission, read as follows: 1) problems relating to the functions, structure, and working methods of a successor organization for the Caribbean Commission; 2) preliminary draft of such agreement setting up such a successor organization; 3) budget estimates and apportionment of budget; 4) rules of procedure for the Revision Conference; and 5) report and findings. A suggestion was made during the meeting that financial assistance should be afforded delegates from smaller territories to permit attendance at conferences or seminars sponsored by the Commission, when necessary.

The European Parliamentary Assembly met in ordinary session from May 12 to 14, 1959, at Strasbourg. One of the principal points on the agenda was the proposed creation of a European University. While it was admitted that, for the time being, it was essential for the proposed institute to concentrate on nuclear and technical research, most of the speakers agreed that the European University should progressively be extended to include other branches of learning such as European law. Furthermore, the University should not be limited to Six-Power Europe but should be open to professors and students from all the countries of Kurope. In a resolution adopted at the close of the discussion, the Assembly requested the executives of the three Communities and the Councils of Ministers to unite their efforts to create a European University destined to serve the interests of the European Communities and their overseas countries and territories, through the development of scientific and technical research, the study of social and economic science, philosophy, and history, and the elaboration and development of Community law.

By the Rome treaties of March 25, 1957, which established the European Economic Community (EEC or common market) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), five major institutions were created to serve the Communities. Three of these organs, the Assembly, the Court of Justice, and the Economic and Social Committee, were to be the same for both Communities, under the conditions respectively laid down in the two treaties, while the other two institutions, the Council and the Commission, were to remain separate. According to the Convention which dealt with the institutions common to the Communities, the Assembly was to replace the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and the Court of Justice was to replace the Court provided for in the treaty establishing ECSC. The Economic and Social Committee was to serve only EEC and Euratom since ECSC was already served by a comparable body, the Consultative Committee.

The Permanent Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) met in Paris early in May 1959 to consider the proposals of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom for presentation to the Soviet Union at the forthcoming conference of foreign ministers. According to the press, the proposals won a favorable reception from the Council. No formal action of approval was required, but agreement was reached on the principle of a permanent liaison between the western ministers and the Council during the Geneva conference, scheduled to begin on May 11.

The tenth annual economic review of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) appeared in February 1959 under the title Policies for Sound Economic Growth. Its major conclusions were as follows: 1) policy must generally be focused on the stimulation of an adequate rate of economic growth; 2) the measures adopted must not lead to a rate of growth of demand which might give rise to inflation and balance-of-payments disequilibrium, and which could not therefore be sustained; 3) in view of the large increase in productive capacity in recent years, there was scope for a greater emphasis on increasing consumption; 4) there was need for a stimulus to revive international trade, if possible through a more economic pattern of trade and use of investment resources; 5) member countries should act in concert and coordinate their national policies; 6) the countries in a stronger economic position had the major responsibility for ensuring a renewal of growth, although those still subject to inflationary pressures must continue to apply restraining measures; 7) special consideration must be given to the difficulties of those countries and regions in Europe which were in the course of development and relied heavily on agricultural exports; 8) there must be a stabilization policy appropriate to a phase of renewed expansion; 9) excessive over-all demand should be avoided, as well as cost inflation; and 10) improvements in short-term economic indicators needed to be promoted.