HC Deb 25 July 1962 vol 663 cc1447-51
2. Mr. Ridley

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what negotiations he has now had with the European Economic Community concerning British horticulture.

Mr. Soames

A working party of the Conference has considered the problems of horticulture in the United Kingdom and has reported to Ministers who had a short preliminary discussion yesterday.

Mr. Ridley

Is my right hon. Friend aware that if the answer is a lemon it will not be good enough, and that this is one of the most important areas of the whole negotiations? Will he use his best endeavours to try to get conditions which will give reasonable security to British growers?

Mr. Soames

I can assure my hon. Friend that I am fully aware how vital it is, both within the negotiations and for the horticultural industry, that we should gat reasonable arrangements.

Mr. Peart

Is the Minister aware that there is concern in the horticultural world about the position of the Government? As yet Government spokesmen on this matter have given the impression that they are prepared to go into the European community without any adequate safeguards. When are we likely to know what really are the safeguards the Government wish to have?

Mr. Soames

The hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Peart) knows well that these matters are still under negotiation. We have not on any subject within these negotiations made public what is the position of Her Majesty's Government.

Mr. Peart

The Minister has not answered my question. I asked what really are the safeguards the Government desire? What is the Government's policy on this? I am only afraid that Government spokesmen for agriculture—and, indeed, the Lord Privy Seal—because of a European concept will go in without giving these safeguards. I want to know What they are.

Mr. Soames

The hon. Member asks what is the position of the Government on safeguards for the horticultural industry. I said that that is a vital element within the negotiations. It is part of the negotiations, but we are not making them public.

20. Mr. Peart

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will issue as a White Paper the text of his statements made at the meeting with Ministers of member States of the European Agricultural Community.

Mr. Soames

My right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal's opening statement was, of course, published as a White Paper, but the detailed discussions which are taking place during the course of the negotiations with the European Economic Community are confidential, and the statements made during them are therefore not published.

Mr. Peart

Is not the Minister aware that the Lord Privy Seal made a statement on Euratom which was very detailed and Chart we have not had from the Minister of Agriculture anything comparable to that statement? Is he now aware that there is a feeling in the country that the Government have been rather lackadaisical about this and that the Lord Privy Seal will give everything away in agriculture and get nothing in return? When are we to have a detailed explanation of the Government's agricultural policy in relation to the Common Market?

Mr. Soames

My right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal made dear after his statement on Monday that he had published White Papers on the opening statement in the negotiations with the E.E.C., the Coal and Iron Community and with Euratom. These are the only published statements, and the proceedings within the negotiations have not been published.

Mr. J. Wells

Can my right hon. Friend give some firm assurance to the horticultural districts, following the current round of negotiations, because those districts are very worried and would like a clear exposition?

Mr. Soames

The Government's position is as it has been set out all the way along. We have not been able as yet to come to a final agreement with the E.E.C. countries and we are in the process of negotiation. We had another meeting yesterday and there will be further meetings.

Mr. Peart

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Lord Privy Seal's statement on agriculture on Monday was very vague? No real assurances have been given as yet to our producers. Is not he aware of the detailed regulations issued by the Community and also the statement issued as recently as yesterday by the Common Market Commis- sion to set up an agricultural advisory committee? We do not know the Government's view on this. The House is anxious to know what it is.

Mr. Soames

The hon. Gentleman says that my right hon. Friend's statement on Monday about the position of agriculture was extremely vague. But my right hon. Friend gave a very clear and concise explanation of what had been happening during the week. He was not attempting to set out the Government's position on agriculture as a whole. He was reporting to the House the outcome of the negotiations "in the round" the previous week.

23. Mr. Fell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is satisfied that, under the terms of the provisional agreement reached on 21st July between Great Britain and the Six on the subject of agriculture, the farming community of Great Britain will be as well served as they are under the present system; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Soames

The provisional agreement reached with the Six on annual reviews and a further assurance for farmers in the Community deals with only a part—albeit an important part— of the arrangements that would affect our farmers if we join the E.E.C. Negotiations on other closely related aspects are still going on. Until it is possible to take an overall view of the whole of the arrangements for agriculture in an enlarged Community, it would be premature to make comparisons with our present system.

Mr. Fell

Is my right hon. Friend aware that practically nobody in the agricultural industry or connected with it is at all happy about the announcement made about the arrangements come to on reviews the other day? When is the farming community of this country to have some real assurance that it will not be irreparably damaged if we enter the Common Market? What plans are being made for agriculture if we do not get in?

Mr. Soames

I disagree profoundly with what my hon. Friend says about the provisional agreement, as he terms it, which was arrived at on 21st July. It concerns only a particular sphere but a very important sphere to which I believe the House and certainly the agricultural community attach the greatest importance. It is that there should be a continuation of our annual review and also that the Community should adopt the concept of our annual review. This is what has been done in these negotiations. Of course, an annual review is not an end in itself; it is only a means to an end. As I say, there is a lot of work yet to be done on matters which would flow from an annual review.

Mr. Morris

The Minister has just said that an annual review is not an end in itself. When can he give an assurance to British farmers that we will not enter the Common Market on terms which will result in a decrease of the profitability of British agriculture? When can we be given an assessment of how many small farmers will survive if we enter the Common Market?

Mr. Soames

My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Lord Privy Seal and myself have said time and again that it was essential that we should achieve in these negotiations arrangements which would safeguard the vital interests of agriculture. This we have always said and it is very much in our minds today.

Mr. Turton

Will my right hon. Friend explain one point in the tentative proposal of last Monday? What will be the channel of communication between the British agricultural industry and the European Agricultural Commission if this process of annual review is adopted?

Mr. Soames

To begin with, it will be at national level between the farmers' unions and the Government. When the national review and the Community reviews are being undertaken, there will be discussions between the Commission and representatives of producer interests.