201. The first advantage that accrues to me from this opportunity of addressing the Assembly is that I have the pleasure of congratulating Mr. Belaúnde upon his election to the highest office of the United Nations. Like so many others seated in the benches before us I have had the privilege of listening to his words and observing his actions through the years. It is my firm conviction that they have amply qualified Mm for the leadership of the assembled nations of the world. Wholeheartedly we wish him God-speed.
202. The annual general debate is the proper occasion for a Minister for Foreign Affairs to mention some characteristics of his country's views on certain problems that concern the world, and therefore the .United Nations; in other words, to present its political passport.
203. One of the most important features of the Netherlands is that it now takes part in a great venture towards unity amidst variety and economic streamlining amidst diversification. I am referring, of course, to the European Economic Community, equally known as the European Common Market. The Common Market is not an isolated phenomenon, but the culminating enterprise resulting from a full decade of post-war efforts towards integration of the European economies. Our Benelux economic and customs union, conceived during the Second World War and operated since 1 January 1948, was the first of these tentative undertakings. The Organization for European Economic Co-operation, created in response to the, unforgettable initiative of General Marshall, gave a powerful stimulus to European trade and payments and replaced a cumbersome network of bilateral arrangements by a smoothly functioning multilateral system. One branch of that system has now grown into the European Monetary Agreement, providing for automatic convertibility between the participating currencies.
204. My Government looks upon the European Economic Community together with EURATOM, and the European Coal and Steel Community, as the engines that will drive us on towards ever greater European unity. Trade between the six countries has considerably increased since the beginning of this year. In the course of 1960 a further reduction of customs tariffs within the Community will be effected. This should provide an added impetus to free development of the powerful resources of Western Europe. Holding these convictions we shall continue to contribute our share to the strengthening of the communities.
205. At the same time my Government will use its best endeavours to promote a wider European economic association between the Common Market countries and the proposed free trade zone of seven other European Powers. Specifically we trust and hope that this second round of tax import duly reductions in 1960 will also apply to the other members of the Organization for European Economic Co-operation, for we feel most strongly that where the aim is unity, anything looking like a break between the two groups of countries should be avoided.
206. In our view there can be no doubt that the torch of Western Europe's revival, through the establishment of a free and strong economic unity, will shed a beneficent light on the world economic scene. Not only we in Europe will greatly profit from this daring enterprise, others will also gain from it, not in the least, we trust, the countries depending upon the export of raw materials. We are gratified indeed to note that our achievements have stimulated interest in Latin America and that the concept of a common market and a payments union is taking shape in that part of the world.
207. The basic principle underlying Netherlands policy in these and other matters is freedom. I need not stress that the concept of freedom has, through a long-standing tradition, become a natural feature of Dutch political thinking. Free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is in our view the best means of developing world trade and also an incentive for the promotion of international understanding and good will. Ever since the time of Grotius we have consistently advocated the freedom of the sea, and we propose to continue to do so at the coming second United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea,
208. Similarly we hope that the concept of freedom will prevail in matters of international aviation. It is regrettable that the pursuance of restrictive policies and practices continues to restrict the free use of the air. I therefore take this opportunity to plead, before this great world assembly, for freedom of the air as the one sound and practical principle that should govern the system of modern international transportation.
209. Although I have mentioned these two economic applications of the principle of freedom first, I do not intend to imply that they are the most important ones. On the contrary, the essence of the concept of freedom is freedom of conscience and of the spirit. It is this kind of freedom that we must honour and uphold, be it in our own countries or in places where it is threatened — as it may be in the case in Berlin.
210. Wherever freedom is in danger, the liberties of all of us are at stake. Recent events in Asia have deeply disturbed my people and Government. From their highest religious authority we have heard that the freedom-loving people of Tibet have been brutally subjected by a big and powerful nation. Such misdeeds are not new. History provides endless examples of subjugation and conquest by force. But we had hoped that our post-war world, honouring new concepts of international conduct, would not witness yet another act of violence. I would deplore it if this Organization should ignore the events in Tibet. Over the last fourteen years we have indeed been asked by many present here to stand up in protest against lesser transgressions.
211. The central theme of freedom logically takes my thoughts to another question of importance to the Members of this Organization. We have recently witnessed practices of unilateral restriction of freedom in the Suez Canal where, contrary to the principles of the Constantinople Convention of 1888 and the expressed purpose of the United Nations, ships and cargoes have been held up by one nation. I should like to restate, as others have done in this general debate, that the right of free passage through the Canal should be exercised by all countries without discrimination on whatever grounds.
212. If this curtailment of freedom fills us with dismay, we are encouraged to note that in another part of the world the chances for a satisfactory solution of a long-standing conflict seem to have increased. I share the views expressed here by several colleagues, and especially by Mr. Herter [797th meeting] and by Mr. Selwyn Lloyd [798th meeting], on the declaration made on 16 September 1959 by the President of the French Republic. The generous policy announced by General de Gaulle will enable the inhabitants of Algeria to vote in freedom on their future political status. My delegation hopes that these far-reaching plans will result in peace and co-operation in a country where violence and discord have stood in the way of progress.
213. The position of our Kingdom in this world is also characterized by the possibly unique system of complete equality between the three constituent partners: the Netherlands, Surinam, and the Netherlands Antilles. Jointly we endeavour to manage our Kingdom affairs with each retaining responsibility for his own domestic matters. Two of the three partners are located in the Western Hemisphere. It is possible that this fact of belonging to two continents, together with our traditional strivings for economic and cultural contacts with other peoples, has contributed to our international-mindedness and to the Netherlands preference for a multilateral approach to the solution of political, economic and other problems.
214. As we all know, the United Nations is daily becoming more involved in the economic and social developments that take place all over the world. Our Organization now covers the entire "spectrum" of economic, financial and social issues. This spread in width has lastly been accompanied by a new concentration on depth.
215. One such effort to dig deeper into the problems has resulted in the joint undertaking of the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat and the Specialized Agencies to draw up a well co-ordinated programme of work for the period 1959-1964. Once we have such a programme we will know where we desire our Organization to go. By the same token, if we try to plot the probable direction of world economic development, if we wish to conduct an effective and rational international economic policy, we must see to it that the necessary data become available and that the institutional framework required to conduct such an international policy is made adequate. On the institutional side I have with others often advocated a more active policy role for the United Nations, especially the Economic and Social Council. I am glad to see that the Secretary-General, who supported this view at the twenty-eighth session of the Economic and Social Council [1068th meeting], has again devoted some very interesting thoughts to this question. I should like to congratulate him on his subtle, well-balanced and thought-provoking reflections on this as well as on other subjects concerning the United Nations and his own office. I have read the introduction to his annual report [A/4132/Add.1] with more than routine interest and I am certain that my country will gladly follow him on the main road he has there traced.
216. If an increased concern with international economic policy is one dominant aspect of our Organization's recent activities, another undoubtedly is what the Secretary-General has called the expanding scope of international aid. The establishment and early operations of the Special Fund are part of this expansion. The Managing Director, Mr. Paul G. Hoffman, and his staff deserve high praise for the successful and energetic way in which they have launched the Special Fund. Already it has become abundantly clear that the number of worth-while projects far exceeds the resources presently available to the Special Fund. The disappointing level of the contributions to the Special Fund in 1959 has meant that the Netherlands contribution which was based on the assumption that a total of $100 million would be made available for the Special Fund and the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance together, came to be the second largest for that year. It was therefore encouraging to hear the announcements by my colleagues of the United Kingdom and of Italy that their Governments’ contributions for 1960 to both the Special Fund and the Expanded Programme will be appreciably increased. If many countries would follow this example, the initial objective of $100 million should be reached.
217. To the existing organizations there will perhaps soon be added a United Nations capital development fund. We hope that the proposed international development association will be an important move towards the realization of the basic concepts underlying a capital development fund as discussed during many years in the United Nations. Whatever precise form the international development association will take, it stands to reason that there should be close co-operation between the new agency and those responsible for the carrying out of the existing United Nations programmes for the economic development of the less developed countries.
218. With the aid of increased resources to meet more of the external and internal financing needs of the less developed countries a significant break-througH in their development may not have to be delayed much longer.
219. The Netherlands Government has frequently expressed its belief that the course of economic development of the less developed countries is equal in importance to the maintenance of peace. As levels of living improve and reach comparable heights, internal and external tensions are apt to diminish. The history of our own country is there to prove it, and its lessons were learnt at an early time. More than a century ago our Government established an Agricultural Extension Service to bring the newest techniques to the farms. This was perhaps one of the first conscious efforts of a Government to increase levels of living through systematically conceived technical assistance. And presently, our vast "Delta Plan", through which we hope to gain a final victory over the destructive forces of the sea, is our latest and probably biggest venture in domestic economic development.
220. But if developed countries are to behave according to mid-twentieth century standards in matters of assistance and the sharing of wealth, the underdeveloped countries should likewise endeavour to observe certain basic rules of conduct. Unlawful seizures of the property of our countrymen and other discriminatory actions perpetrated against them have, fortunately, not been able to arrest the economic progress and expansion in the Netherlands, nor have they even changed our attitude towards the problem of economic development. But I must say that the willingness of the developed countries to pursue that line of policy would be put to a lesser test if there were no cases of undermining unilaterally what we endeavour to build up multilaterally.
221. I should like to conclude my statement with a few observations on disarmament. My Government welcomes the establishment of the new Ten-Power Committee and we wish them a fruitful year of negotiations and speedy results. Since I do not, in general, feel that parity properly reflects the basic principles and ideas of the United Nations, we had some hesitation as to the composition of the committee. What finally made it acceptable to us is that it is not a United Nations body — and its composition cannot therefore serve. as a United Nations precedent — and on the other hand, that a link with the United Nations has been maintained and its primary interest in disarmament acknowledged.
222. Like others I have eagerly awaited the new proposals announced [799th meeting] by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, whom we had the privilege of seeing on this rostrum. Their full import cannot, in my view, be judged without more and ample clarification on the part of the Soviet Union. It is to be hoped that this will be forthcoming and that it will make some real progress possible.
223. In participating in the work of this General Assembly, the Netherlands delegation will endeavour to do its duty. "The work of today within and for the United Nations is a work through which the basis may be laid for increasingly satisfactory forms of international co-operation and for a future international system of law and order, for which the world is not yet ripe." (A/4132/Add.1, pages 1-2) That is a quotation from the Secretary-General’s introduction to his annual report. I can think of no better way of paying homage to the United Nations and its highest servant than by quoting his words.
224. As in previous Assemblies I conclude by asking God to grant that the work of the United Nations may redound to the benefit of mankind.