7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities NoC 114/7 
to exploit the natural resources of the area and is 
concerned that the possibilities for job-preservation and 
job-creation in agriculture, forestry, tourism and 
fisheries should not be neglected. 
3. The Committee accordingly makes the following 
recommendations: 
3.1. The two governments should take action as a 
matter of urgency to implement the proposals contained 
in the cross-border study within a period not exceeding 
five years. 
3.2. In particular, the projects to which both 
governments assign priorities should immediately be 
submitted for financing within the existing 
arrangements of the European Regional Development 
Fund. 
3.3. When the non-quota section of the Regional Fund 
comes into operation, special regard should be paid to 
its use in the study area; it is therefore recommended that the cross-border region be made the object of a 
specific Community regional development measure 
under Article 13 of the revised Fund Regulation, so that 
funds can be provided immediately to contribute to the 
financing of those projects recommended in the 
crossborder study for which sufficient finance has not 
yet been forthcoming from other sources. 
3.4. In response to a strong demand in,the area, the 
European Commission should consider opening an 
Information Office in Northern Ireland as a matter of 
urgency. 
3.5. As described in the Information Report, the 
Steering Group should be given a positive role to play as 
a catalyst for economic and social development and, to 
assist the Steering Group, an Area Liaison Committee 
should be established composed of representatives of 
local authorities and of economic and social interest 
groups in order to provide meaningful local 
participation and to make use of local knowledge and 
experience. 
Done at Brussels, 12 July 1978. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Basil de FERRANTI 
Opinion on the implementation of the Lome Convention — the road towards a new 
Convention 
The opinion of the Committee is not based on any text. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 4 July 1977, the Bureau of the Committee decided, under the third paragraph of Article 
20 of its Rules of Procedure, to deliver an additional opinion on the abovementioned 
subject. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 161st 
plenary session held in Brussels on 12 and 13 July 1978. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
NoC 114/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 5. 79 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the third paragraph of Article 20 of its 
Rules of Procedure, 
Having regard to the decision taken by its Bureau on 
4 July 1977, instructing the Section for External 
Relations to deliver an opinion on the implementation 
of the Lome Convention and the road towards a new 
Convention, 
Having regard to its two earlier opinions, dated 26 June 
1974 and 26 November 1975 respectively, on the Lome 
Convention (1), 
Having regard to the opinions which it issues every year 
on the generalized system of tariff preferences of the 
European Community, 
Having regard to its study on the Community's policy 
on relations between industrialized and developing 
countries, 
Having regard to the opinion issued by the Section for 
External Relations at its meeting on 13 June 1978, 
Having regard to the report submitted by the 
rapporteur, Mr Soulat, 
Having regard to the discussions at its 161st plenary 
session held on 12 and 13 July 1978 (meeting of 12 
July), 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
with no votes against and six abstentions: 
1. Introduction 
1.1. Although the Lome Convention has been in force 
for only a relatively short period of time, the Committee 
considers that the experience acquired over the past two 
years, the aspirations of the ACP countries and the 
medium and long term interests of the Community all 
call for a consolidation and strengthening of the 
cooperation initiated under the Convention. 
1.2. In particular, the Committee feels that the Lome 
Convention can make an important contribution 
(!) OJ No C 116, 30. 9. 1974 and OJ No C 35, 16. 2. 1976. towards the quest for a new international order which 
will enable the ACP countries to achieve real economic 
and social development and full sovereign status 
through appropriate programmes and contractual links 
freely negotiated by the Contracting Parties to the 
Convention. This new international order, the most 
urgent aim of which is to provide the people concerned 
with their basic needs, must be founded on the 
development of national economies. It must also help to 
strengthen regional and interregional cooperation (in 
this document regional cooperation covers relations 
either between two or more ACP States or between one 
or more ACP States on the one hand and one or more 
neighbouring non-ACP countries on the other. 
Inter-regional cooperation covers relations either 
between two or more regional organizations of which 
ACP States form part or between one or more ACP 
States and a regional organization) with the aim of 
establishing larger markets. Such a new order implies a 
certain number of economic and social objectives and 
these must be decided upon and achieved in close 
partnership with the peoples of the countries concerned. 
1.3. The Committee would stress how important it is 
that the economic and social objectives of the ACP 
countries and those of the Community Member States 
should be consistent with each other. To achieve this 
consistency, there must be a full and frank exchange of 
information, a will to engage in permanent 
consultation, and procedures to make this possible. One 
cannot expect that the present imbalances in trade 
patterns in particular will correct themselves of their 
own accord. 
1.4. The Committee considers that continuation of the 
cooperation policy as reflected in the Lome Convention 
should not stand in the way of a Community 
development policy towards non-ACP developing 
countries. 
To this end the Community must be mindful of both its 
moral and legal obligations towards the developing 
countries as a whole. 
1.5. All EEC countries should really apply the 
international standard for development aid (0-7% of 
GNP) and try to align their development aid policies 
more. 
1.6. Overall consistency in the various aspects of 
EEC/ACP cooperation should also be actively sought 
both in the negotiation of the new Convention and in its 
implementation. 
1.7. As the Committee has already stressed on several 
occasions, economic and social interest groups in the 
ACPs and the EEC will have to be involved if the ideas 
outlined above are to be translated into reality. 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities NoC 114/9 
2. The Lome Convention: balance sheet 
2.1. As far as trade is concerned, the Committee is 
pleased that it has been possible to maintain free access 
to the Community market for ACP products without 
invoking the safeguard clause, despite the problems 
created by certain products which are now in surplus. 
However, it might be appropriate to incorporate in the 
new Convention arrangements to enable selective use to 
be made of the safeguard clause when all the 
possibilities of reaching a negotiated settlement have 
been exhausted. 
Although in the first two years of application of the 
trade provisions (1975 and 1976) there was a slight 
decline in the overall ACP share of Community foreign 
trade, the information for 1977 indicates a change in 
this trend, It must, however, be stressed that not all the 
ACP countries have increased their individual share and 
that the general pattern of trade is still very much out of 
balance. The parties concerned should pay particular 
attention to this fact at the next round of negotiations. 
2.2. Stabex has so far been of considerable benefit to 
a number of ACP countries. The ACPs have, however, 
complained about the fact that only a limited range of 
products is covered by the system, although the 
ACP/EEC Council has been able to provide a solution 
for some of these complaints. The absence of any 
adjustment for inflation would also seem to be a 
weakness. 
2.3. The Committee notes that industrial cooperation, 
in the form referred to in the Convention, has not yet 
really got off the ground. It has taken a long time to set 
up the administrative structure. One favourite aspect is 
the policy guiding the Centre for Industrial 
Development in the choice of projects, viz. promotion 
of joint ventures, emphasis on small and medium-sized 
enterprises, encouragement of industries using locally 
available raw materials and assistance with agricultural 
development. The Committee is also concerned at the 
relatively high cost of the jobs created by the Centre's 
operations. If it is to make any considerable impact, 
given the type of problems arising, the available capital 
should be spread over a large number of labour-inten­
sive jobs. 
2.4. The Committee regrets, however, that economic 
and social interest groups have not been consulted 
(under Article 10 of Decision 1/76 of the ACP/EEC 
Council of Ministers) on these aims or, more generally, 
on the Centre's rules of operation. 
2.5. The Committee notes that, generally speaking, 
financial and technical cooperation has functioned 
satisfactorily. Certain new aspects of this cooperation, 
viz. regional cooperation, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, microprojects, programming 
and the establishment of delegations, seem already 
likely to enhance the effectiveness of Community 
cooperation policy as a whole. 
2.6. The setting-up of the institutions proceeded 
normally. The Committee regrets, however, the failure 
to apply Article 74 (6) of the Convention, which reads 
as follows: 'The Council of Ministers may make all the 
arrangements that are appropriate for ensuring the 
maintenance of effective contacts, consultations and 
cooperation between the economic and social sectors of 
the Member States and of the ACP States'. The 
Committee would stress the efforts made by the 
Commission and the ACP/EEC Consultative Assembly 
in this area, which have led to an initial meeting 
between members of the Joint Committee of the 
ACP/EEC Consultative Assembly and representatives of 
economic and social interest groups in the ACPs and the 
EEC. 
2.7. The Committee also deplores the fact that in the 
implementation of the Convention there has been: 
(a) a lack of coordination between the ACP countries 
and the Community; in particular arrangements for 
the reciprocal exchange of information and mutual 
consultation procedures have not operated 
according to plan; 
(b) a lack of consistency between the different 
cooperation procedures provided for by the 
Convention; for instance, industrial investments 
should be coordinated with investments in 
infrastructure. 
3. Towards a new Convention 
3.1. The cooperation between the EEC and the ACPs 
needs to be intensified and in certain respects 
supplemented on account of the recession that has led 
to considerable changes in the world economy and in 
international relations, particularly by increasing the 
disparities both within and between individual 
countries. 
3.2. Trade cooperation and Stabex 
3.2.1. The Committee thinks that there should 
continue to be duty-free access to the Community 
market for products from the developing countries and 
in particular the ACPs. Furthermore, non-tariff barriers 
(including quantitative restrictions) should be abolished 
as soon as possible. 
3.2.2. The Committee considers that the principle of 
non-reciprocity should be maintained. It also points out 
No C 114/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 5. 79 
that the ACPs are obliged to accord the Community 
treatment no less favourable than that given to other 
developed countries. On the other hand, it is fair to say 
that hitherto the ACP countries have not enjoyed the 
benefits which they demanded from third countries 
when the Community abandoned the principle of 
reciprocity. 
3.2.3. Trade between the Community and the ACPs 
should gradually evolve towards a more balanced 
pattern. In particular, the ACPs' imports of foodstuffs 
should decline and their imports of capital goods should 
increase. It goes without saying that these objectives 
cannot be achieved simply by means of commercial 
policy and that ACP/EEC cooperation policy as a whole 
should be geared to this end. Judicious trade promotion 
measures could, however, facilitate the restructuring of 
trade. 
3.2.4. If problems arise or threaten to arise with regard 
to specific sensitive sectors or products, the Committee 
considers that there will have to be, as the Commission 
is proposing, obligatory, regular consultations between 
the EEC and the ACP countries, in which economic and 
social interest groups must be involved. These 
consultations ought to afford a better two-way flow of 
information on trends and the outlook as regards 
output, the market and trade. The aim would be to 
bring about an ordered expansion of trade in the said 
sectors and products, and plan the necessary structural 
changes. But such ad hoc forms of consultation should 
give way in the future to an overall consultation process 
on sectoral policies. 
In any event, the consequences and the socio-economic 
cost of the agreements must be borne solely by the 
workers in the industries concerned but must be spread 
evenly throughout the entire Community. 
3.2.5. On a more general level, the expansion of the 
internal and regional,markets of the various parties to 
the Convention must be part and parcel of the aims of 
the new Convention and it must not be jeopardized by 
the expansion of trade between the ACP countries and 
the Community. 
3.2.6. In view of the importance of the multinational 
companies to the trade and production of the ACP 
countries, the Committee believes that the parties to the 
Convention should adopt a common policy on 
monitoring, obtaining and exchanging information on 
the activities of the multinationals. 3.2.7. The Committee would stress the value of the 
Stabex system. It does, however, urge that the operation 
of the system should be improved, taking into account 
the effects of inflation (on both transfers and 
repayments), the need for the ACPs to export processed 
products rather than raw materials, and the need for 
ACPs to develop their regional trade. Attention should 
be paid to whether Stabex is consistent with plans under 
way at world level. 
3.2.8. In addition to this improvement in the operation 
of Stabex, the range of products covered must also be 
extended. Furthermore, some ACP countries may 
gradually be able to contribute towards the cost of 
operating the system when they achieve a high level of 
economic activity. In such cases the system should be 
managed on a joint basis. 
3.2.9. As far as the destination of the sums transferred 
under Stabex is concerned, the Section thinks that these 
sums should go primarily to the sectors and people 
concerned, provided that this is consistent with the 
development policy of the ACP State concerned, and to 
diversification projects aimed at alleviating the 
difficulties in these sectors. 
3.3. Industrial and technological cooperation 
3.3.1. The Committee would stress once again the 
importance it has attached to this subject in the past. It 
regrets that the new kind of industrial cooperation 
provided for in the Convention has not yet really got off 
the ground. It therefore considers that industrial 
cooperation should be intensified in the new 
Convention. 
3.3.2. As regards the priorities to be observed, within 
the framework of industrial cooperation, the Committee 
thinks that the prime aim should be to create a 
diversified industrial base that will contribute to the 
development of the ACPs through: 
— manufacture aimed first and foremost at satisfying 
the basic needs of the people as expressed on 
national and regional markets; 
— progressive improvements of the ACPs' export 
capability with a view to establishing more 
equitable trade relations; special emphasis in this 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 114/11 
respect should be placed on processing their raw 
materials; 
:— the improvement of the ACPs' technological 
capability; 
— the creation of as many jobs as possible; 
— a better balance of economic activities at national 
and regional level; 
— industrialization without causing any deterioration 
of the environment or living and working 
conditions; 
— the integration of industry in overall development 
policy, particularly rural development policy; 
— the establishment of maintenance companies to keep 
existing equipment in a good state of repair; 
— coordination of infrastructures and the localization 
of industrial plants. 
3.3.3. The Committee would lay great stress on the 
problems involved in the transfer and adaptation of 
technology. If the ACP countries are to achieve the kind 
of development which takes account of their own 
specific circumstances and meets the aims they 
themselves have defined, the transfer of technology 
from the industrialized countries must involve measures 
to find, select and apply appropriate technologies in line 
with the needs, resources and aspirations of each of the 
developing countries. 
3.3.4. Investment guarantees are not covered by the 
present Convention. The Commission does, however, 
consider that the new Convention will have to include 
measures for encouraging and protecting investments. 
These measures should take into account (a) the 
sovereign rights of the host countries which would 
continue to decide whether or not to encourage foreign 
investment in their territory and (b) foreign investors' 
need for protection against non-commercial risks, and 
for assurances that the conditions under which their 
companies operate will remain the same. 
The fact that several of the ACP countries have 
investment codes demonstrates their desire to provide 
facilities for foreign investors. This desire should lead to 
concrete measures designed to iron out difficulties in 
relations between foreign investors and the authorities 
in the host countries. 
3.3.5. The Committee attaches particular importance 
to investment guarantees and it has repeatedly 
expressed its views on this matter in the past: — in February 1974 it supported in principle the idea 
of a Community guarantee for private investments, 
while urging that social considerations be taken into 
account. It stated, for example, that projects should 
have to observe ILO rules; 
— in November 1975 it expressed the view that 
guarantees would encourage investment in the ACP 
countries, and went on to say that negotiations 
could be opened with those ACP States which were 
interested in allowing Community based companies 
to expand their operations on their territory. 
3.3.6. The Committee considers that the new 
Convention should devote a chapter to the above 
subject. The Committee pould deliver a specific opinion 
on this matter. The opinion could be based on the 
communication from the Commission to the Council 
dated 21 January 1978. 
3.3.7. The Committee attaches particular importance 
to maintaining and developing dynamic small and 
medium-sized enterprises in the ACP countries. 
There is good scope for setting up small and 
medium-sized enterprises in numerous sectors, such as 
building, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, 
agriculture and food, domestic hollow-ware, joinery, 
etc. Under the Convention, effective cooperation in such 
enterprises (in any areas the ACPs desire) is possible 
between EEC and ACP operators, regardless of the legal 
form of the enterprises concerned (private enterprises, 
mixed enterprises, State enterprises, cooperatives, etc.). 
Cooperation contracts can make specific provision for 
operations of various kinds, such as transfers of 
technology, patents or know-how, pooling of 
distribution networks, setting-up of joint branches, etc. 
3.3.8. The Committee stresses that throughout 
industrial and technological cooperation there must be, 
at all levels, an intensive and coordinated technical, 
occupational, management and commercial training 
effort, with regular updating, so that all responsibilities, 
even at the highest level, in the various sectors and firms 
can be taken over at the earliest possible date by ACP 
nationals. 
3.3.9. Experts, assistants and technical cooperation 
staff requested by the ACP countries have an important 
role to play in industrial and technical cooperation. 
No C 114/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 5. 79 
It is particularly necessary to ensure that such persons 
possess the requisite qualifications, teaching abilities, 
and receive adequate advance training and retraining. 
All these measures must really help ACP nationals to 
acquire the skills which will enable them to take 
responsibility for running all aspects of the economic, 
commercial, and industrial life of their own countries. 
The ( cooperation staff must be given freedom of 
movement and adequate legal security when working in 
the various areas and when moving from place to place. 
3.3.10. In the light of the above, the Committee thinks 
that the work of the Centre for Industrial Development 
should be intensified and its role strengthened, 
particularly in the important field of technological 
change. The Centre should also be in a position to play 
an active role in liaising and arranging practical 
cooperation between EEC countries and existing or 
projected national and regional centres in the ACP 
countries. 
3.4. Agricultural cooperation 
3.4.1. The new Convention should contain a specific 
section on agricultural cooperation. This cooperation 
should cover, in particular: 
— the assistance to be provided for agricultural 
diversification so that priority can be given to the 
ACPs' self-sufficiency in food; 
— the processing of agricultural products; 
— the search for and implementation of appropriate 
agricultural techniques so that agriculture can be 
upgraded and modernized; 
— the creation of the infrastructure necessary for rural 
development; 
— the steps to be taken to deal with crucial problems, 
such as drought and its consequences, 
desertification and water control; 
— the problems posed by food aid; 
— the aim of complementarity rather than 
competition, bearing in mind the situation on world 
markets. 3.4.2. The many problems involved in the expansion 
of agriculture in the ACP countries must be seen against 
the background of the Community's overall 
responsibilities towards the developing countries, 
particularly the Mediterranean nations. The section on 
agricultural cooperation in the new Convention should 
therefore stress the importance of regular exchanges of 
information between representatives of rural interest 
groups in all the signatory countries. 
3.5. Financial cooperation 
3.5.1. Financial cooperation offers a means of taking 
direct action to further the policies covered by the 
Convention by serving as a back-up instrument for its 
commercial, industrial and technological aspects. 
Financial cooperation must, in the Committee's view, be 
geared, in particular, to: 
— supporting regional and inter-regional projects 
dealing with road, rail and airline infrastructures, 
the development of communications, water works, 
education, public health and technological research; 
— developing a varied agricultural industrial 
production, particularly in the field of processing 
raw materials and local products; and also 
developing small businesses by introducing 
manufacturing operations which stimulate both the 
economy and employment; and, finally, continuing, 
in an active way, the micro-project experiment. 
3.5.2. From a general point of view, priority must 
continue to be given to the least developed countries, 
isolated countries and islands. In this connection, 
special attention must be paid to helping ACP countries 
in southern Africa which have had to put up with the 
serious consequences of their struggle against apartheid 
in the Republic of South Africa and of the situation 
affecting this region. 
The financial cooperation measures which have already 
been taken (special aid, EEC/ACP programme to aid 
Namibia) have been positive and this work should be 
intensified, particularly with a view to opening up iso­
lated countries and providing emergency food aid and 
medical programmes. 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 114/13 
3.5.3. The financial contributions made to projects 
which have been carried out, particularly infrastructure 
projects, should be supplemented by further credits to 
enable these projects to be kept going, at least for a 
certain time (maintenance, supply of maintenance and 
repair equipment, training of staff, etc.) 
3.5.4. There is a need to improve the way in which aid 
and loans are planned under the Convention to bring 
them more into line with the objectives of the ACP 
countries and enable the latter to play a more active role 
in the administration of the aid and loans. 
3.5.5: In this way the time lag between the 
commitment of funds and the actual transfers could be 
substantially reduced. 
3.5.6. The Committee considers that joint financing 
arrangements between, on the one hand, the 
Community and the ACP countries and, on the other 
hand, outside financial institutions, should be developed 
to the utmost, particularly where projects involving 
several countries are concerned. 
3.5.7. The Committee draws attention to the 
important role played by the EEC missions to the ACP 
countries. The Committee supports the Commission's 
proposal that the cost of the Community missions to the 
ACP countries should be met by the Community 
budget. 
3.5.8. In conclusion, the Committee calls for increases 
in the budget of the EDF and in EIB loans granted to 
the ACP countries, by the EIB. Such increases are 
necessary to make up for the effects of inflation and 
meet the increased requirements of the ACP countries. 
3.6. The involvement of economic and social interest 
groups in the Convention 
3.6.1. Since the Yaounde Convention, trade unions 
and employers' organizations at both Community and 
ACP level have shown a keen interest in the preparation 
and implementation of the Convention. 
3.6.2. This interest can be explained by the fact that 
the economic and social situation in each country is 
having an increased bearing on cooperation. If the 
interests of the people and groups represented by the 
socio-economic organizations are to be taken into 
account more effectively in the Conventions, these 
organizations will have to be consulted by the various 
bodies concerned at several levels. 
3.6.3. Provision is made in the Lome Convention for 
such consultations, particularly in Article 74 (6) and (9) 
and Article 80 (5). So far only one such consultation has taken place. This consultation, which was based on 
Article 80 (5), was organized at the instigation of the 
Joint Committee of the ACP-EEC Consultative 
Assembly. 
3.6.4. The Committee once again urges that Article 74 
(6) and (9) of the present Convention, be used to 
establish an ad hoc select group, attached to the 
Council, consisting of representatives of economic and 
social interest groups in the Community and the ACP 
countries. This group would be consulted on general 
matters covered by the Convention and, in particular, 
matters relating to industrial cooperation. 
3.6.5. The Committee would strongly urge that a 
meeting be arranged between economic and social 
circles, as a follow up to the meeting held in 
Luxembourg in June 1977, on the occasion of the next 
meeting of the Consultative Assembly. 
The Committee considers that opposition on political or 
financial grounds to the consultation of economic and 
social interests would be completely unwarranted. 
3.6.6. The Committee would ask that the new 
Convention made provision for: 
— a consultative conference of representatives of 
economic and social interest groups in the ACP 
countries and the EEC, to meet once a year and 
have a joint meeting with the Joint Committee of 
the ACP/EEC Consultative Assembly; 
— a select committee attached to the ACP/EEC Coun^ 
cil of Ministers which would be consulted twice a 
year on the problems raised by the implementation 
of the Convention. 
3.6.7. As has already been indicated in the opinion, the 
Economic and Social Committee of the European 
Communities, which consists of representatives of 
economic and social interest groups in the Community, 
has expressed its views on the Lome Convention and 
relations between the Community and the developing 
countries on a number of occasions. 
The Committee intends to continue to keep an active 
watching brief, both during the remaining months of 
application of the Lome Convention and during the 
formulation and implementation of the new convention. 
In its work in this field, the Committee will continue to 
cooperate with organizations representing the economic 
and social interest groups. 
3.7. Miscellaneous issues 
3.7.1. The Committee draws the attention of the 
parties involved in the negotiations to the need to add 
NoC 114/14, Official Journal of the European Communities 7. 5. 79 
to the new Convention a chapter dealing with social 
issues which are common to the ACP countries and the 
Community. 
3.7.2. The Committee calls for a dynamic social 
approach to be adopted to the problem of ACP migrant 
workers and their families and urges that specific 
provisions to this end be included in the new 
convention. 
These provisions should guarantee that there is no 
discrimination between ACP migrant workers and their 
families and nationals of the Member States of the 
Community, as regards: 
— the implementation of regulations on wages, 
working conditions, promotion, job security, 
jurisdiction in the field of labour, trade union rights, 
housing conditions and health matters; 
— the right to receive the same social benefits as 
nationals of the Member States (same social security 
schemes and pensions schemes) and the right to 
receive family benefits; 
— the right of individual workers to aggregate the 
employment insurance contributions they have paid 
in various Member States and their periods of 
residence in these States for the purpose of 
calculating entitlement to retirement and pensions; 
— the right to transfer freely to their countries of 
origin pensions, annuities and allowances earned in 
respect of periods spent in the Community. 3.7.3. The Committee also points to the advisability of 
providing ACP citizens temporarily resident in the 
Community with education and training that will 
facilitate their reintegration in their home countries and 
help them to play a part in the development of these 
countries. 
3.7.4. The new Convention must affirm the desire of 
the signatories to do their utmost to ensure that the 
most basic human rights are respected. This in no way 
reflects a wish to interfere in the internal affairs of the 
other signatory countries but rather expresses a feeling 
of joint commitment to the defence and respect of 
justice, freedom and basic human rights. 
3.7.5. The Committee calls, in particular, for 
observances of the ILO's minimum standards on 
working conditions and of the ILO. Conventions on 
trade union freedoms, negotiations, forced labour and 
non-discrimination. Close collaboration with the ILO 
could prove to be a very great help when monitoring 
compliance with standards, since this institution has the 
instruments needed to do this. 
3.7.6. Finally, the Committee stresses the need to find 
ways to enable the Convention to come into effect 
without delay after it has been signed, in order to avoid 
the long time lags inherent in the current ratification 
procedure. 
Done at Brussels, 12 July 1978. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Basil de FERRANTI 
ANNEX 
to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee 
The following amendments, were rejected during the debates: 
Point 3.2.6 
This point should be deleted. 
7. 5. 79 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 114/15 
Reasons 
The multinationals problem is not peculiar to the Lome Convention. Other bodies, such as the OECD 
and the UN, are discussing the problem. Moreover, to suggest, as point 3.2.6 does, that the 
multinationals should be 'monitored' under the Lome Convention, can only slow down the expansion 
of industrial cooperation, in which the multinationals, large and small, play a vital part. 
Voting 
For: 42; against: 49; abstentions: 6. 
Point 3.2.9 
Add a new point after point 3.2.9 to read as follows: 
'In view inter alia of the effects of inflation and the present international monetary disorder, Stabex 
should also be accompanied by indexation arrangements to guarantee the value of the funds 
allocated and ensure a stable price for the products'. 
Voting 
For: 22; against: 45; abstentions: 6. 
Point 3.5.2 
Delete the reference to apartheid in the Republic of South Africa as a criterion for granting aid to 
contracting parties to the Lome Convention. 
Reasons 
It is not the Committee's task to introduce purely political criteria into the application of the 
Convention. 
Voting 
For: 37; against: 54; abstentions: 9. 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive relating to the approximation of the laws, 
regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for 
defective products 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the European 
Communities No C 241 of 14 October 1976, page 9. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 5 October 1976 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Economic and 
Social Committee in accordance with Article 100 of the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community.