Search

When the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, which is composed of parliamentary delegations appointed by the national parliaments of the eighteen member countries,l was confronted with the problem of air pollution, it immediately realized the complexity and urgency of this problem. The Assembly decided to convene an international conference to which specialists in the different fields would be invited. Mr. Radius, who was then Chairman of the Social Committee and Rapporteur of the Assembly, prepared a Recommendation defining the aims and methods of this Conference. This Recommendation was adopted by the Consultative Assembly on September 23, I96I (Recommendation 290). The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is the executive body of the organization, and is composed of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the member States, implemented this Recommendation and convened the European Conference on Air Pollution, which took place in Strasbourg from June 24 to July I, I964. Some 350 persons participated in this Conference: personalities in the fields of science, technology, medicine, industry, law, economics and journalism; representatives of local authorities, administrations, international organizations; and a number of political figures, many of them members of governments. The agenda comprised the following fourteen items