Series AC/123 - Working Group to consider further action by NATO in the field of scientific and technical cooperation.

In the middle of the 1950s, it appeared important to NATO to concern itself not only with political or military issues, but also with civil issues. The aim was to look into the scientific and technical fields which might give NATO the opportunity to employ highly-qualified staff and establish predominance of the West over the Soviet Union in the fields of defence, economy and culture. The report of the Committee of Three (C-M(56)127-REV1), a proposal by the US (RDC(57)53) and the NATO Manpower Planning Committee were all drafted or established along those lines. The Council accepted their views. It approved the setting up of AC/123 (see C-R(57)9) and its terms of reference (AC/123-D/1). AC/123 was chaired by Mr Cullingford (the Chair of the Manpower Planning Committee). The meetings were attended by the Chairs of: -the Defence Production Committee, -the Scientific Working Group on Civil Production, -the Working Group on Trends in Soviet Foreign Policy,-the Annual Review Committee-(but also) by the scientific advisor to SHAPE and consultants from France and the US. The terms of reference of AC/123 stipulated that the working group would:-meet after the meeting of the experts of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) on 11 and 12 March 1957, -base itself on the OEEC report, the activities of the European Productivity Agency and the presentation by the US expert (AC/123-WP/1) in the preparation of its own studies, -decide whether it was preferable for NATO to simply apply the measures advocated by the OEEC, to add to them or to propose its own, -present a report on the topic to the Manpower Planning Committee. The latter would then submit the report to the Council. AC/123 met twice after the OEEC experts meeting. The report was published on 1 April 1957 (see C-M(57)50). On 24 April 1957, the Council approved the recommendations contained in the report (see C-R(57)25), in particular regarding the establishment of a small working group tasked with preparing a conference bringing together experts to discuss scientific and technical cooperation. AC/123 was thus replaced by AC/132.