Whereas the mission of the International Labour Organisation is to promote in the social and labour fields the adoption of standards based on the principles set forth in the Constitution of the I.L.O and the Declaration of Philadelphia and the Organisation, while co-operating with the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security, remains outside political controversy between nations or groups of nations and is at the disposal of all its Member nations to co-operate with them, either severally or through regional organisations of which they are members, in implementing the objectives for which the International Labour Organisation itself exists;

Whereas the mission of the Community is to contribute to the raising of the standard of living in member States and to the development of exchanges with other countries by the creation of conditions necessary for the establishment and speedy growth of nuclear industries;

Whereas the Community has laid down uniform safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the population at large, and supervises the application of these standards;

Whereas the Organisation has established uniform safety standards for the protection of the health of workers, particularly against radiations and supervises the application of these standards;

Desirous of establishing a satisfactory basis for mutual co-operation with a view to contributing to economic expansion, the development of energy resources and the improvement of working and living conditions of workers and the population at large;

Recognising that such co-operation should develop in the light of experience and practical action;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article I

The Organisation and the Community shall consult each other whenever necessary on matters of common interest, for the purpose of realising their objectives in the social field, especially in the matter of labour and health protection, and eliminating all unnecessary duplication of work; these consultations shall be concerned in particular with questions relating to the protection of workers and the general public against the hazards of ionising radiations.

Article II

The Organisation may invite a representative of the Community to hold exchanges of views with it or with its competent services, as well as to attend in the capacity of observer such meetings as are organised by it on the protection of workers against the hazards of ionising radiations.

The Commission may invite a representative of the Organisation to hold exchanges of views with it or with its competent services, as well as to attend in the capacity of observer such meetings as are organised by it on the protection of workers against the hazards of ionising radiations.

Article III

The Organisation and the Community shall combine their efforts to obtain the best use of statistical and legislative information and to ensure the most efficient utilisation of their resources in the assembly, analysis, publication and diffusion of such information, with a view to reducing the burden of the governments and organisations from which it is collected, subject to such arrangements as may be necessary for safeguarding the confidential character of any part of this information.

The Organisation and the Community recognise that they may find it necessary to apply certain limitations for the safeguarding of confidential information furnished to them. They therefore agree that nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as requiring either of them to furnish such information as would, in the judgment of the party possessing the information, constitute a violation of the confidence of any of its member States or of anyone from whom it has received such information or otherwise interfere with the orderly conduct of its operations.

Article IV

Whenever desirable for the development of their activities the Organisation and the Community may request of each other technical advice on matters within their sphere of competence, in particular, the protection of workers against the hazards of ionising radiations.

The Organisation and the Community shall make every effort to give each other all appropriate technical assistance in regard to such matters, in a manner to be agreed in such cases as may arise.

If compliance with such a request for advice entails substantial outlay on the part of the Contracting Party complying with the request, the provisions governing the liability for such expenditure shall, in each case, be determined by prior agreement.

Article V

The Organisation and the Community shall make all appropriate administrative arrangements to ensure the effective implementation of the present Agreement.

Article VI

The Organisation and the Community shall from time to time, through their respective representatives review the progress made in effective co-operation between the Organisation and the Community. They shall examine such supplementary arrangements as may be found desirable in the light of the practical implementation of the present Agreement, as well as any amendments to be made to the Agreement, in accordance with evolving circumstances and the practical needs of the Organisation and the Community.

Article VII

The present Agreement shall enter into force as soon as the Director-General of the International Labour Office and the President of the Commission have notified each other of the approval of the Agreement by the Community and by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office.

IN FAITH WHEREOF, the Director-General of the International Labour Office, duly authorised by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and a Member of the Commission, duly authorised by the Commission, have signed the present Agreement in French.

In order to meet the respective requirements of the Contracting Parties, the Organisation shall establish an official translation of the present Agreement into English and the Community shall establish official translations into Dutch, German and Italian.

For the International Labour Organisation:
David A. Morse.

For the European Atomic Energy Community:
Heinz L. Krekeler.

Done at Geneva, in two copies this twenty-sixth day of January of the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-one.

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Published in: ILO, Agreements concluded between the International Labour Organisation and other international intergovernmental organisations, Volume II, Agreements concluded with regional organisations, Geneva (no date).

See also: Document GB.147/16/26 (Appendix).