§ Q4. Mr. Ridleyasked the Prime Minister if he will now define in greater detail his proposals for a European technological community.
§ The Prime MinisterI have as yet nothing to add to the information that has already been given to the House including that contained in my speech to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, a copy of which is in the Library.
§ Mr. RidleyWould the Prime Minister agree that to get a fair and true sharing of the immense costs of research and development in this field there must be a supra-national element of control? Can he say whether his proposals for a technological community contain a proposal for supra-national control of our technological research and development effort?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree that in order to enable technological industries here and elsewhere in Europe to flourish, a much wider market is required. We stressed this in our visits to Europe. On the precise form of the community, this will be a matter for discussion with the Six, particularly if we were to start negotiations for entry. But since the present proposal is to merge all three communities 710 —the executives are currently being merged—it is very hard now to speculate about the exact nature of control.
§ Q5. Mr. David Howellasked the Prime Minister whether he discussed his proposals for a European technology community during his recent visit to European capitals.
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir.
§ Mr. HowellDoes not the Prime Minister recognise that if this idea of a technology community is to have any real meaning it involves a very high degree of political and defence integration and co-ordination of purchasing policies? Would he reassure the House that he is converted to that kind of Europeanism?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is extremely difficult at this moment to forecast how it would be fitted into the new merged community. If the communities were not fully merged at the time of British entry, if we get the right conditions of entry, it might be right to expand Euratom. A lot of steam needs to be put into Euratom, as I think all Members will agree. It could be done in the existing Euratom form. But it could be that if the communities are merged we shall be able to get the right technological component within the merged community. But I cannot speculate at this time on what kind of political control would apply to the merged community.
§ Mr. DalyellOn the short term, can my right hon. Friend confirm the Government's enthusiasm for a European civilian air bus?
§ The Prime MinisterThere are due to be further talks about this in Europe. We are extremely interested in this project and have quite a big part in it. The British Government and other Governments would want to be quite certain that there would be an adequate market among the airlines of Europe for the ultimate product.
§ Mr. HeathIn his Guildhall speech, the Prime Minister spoke of a drive to create a new technological community, but when he spoke to E.S.U. he said that he saw Europe as a technological community. In the House he said that we have a community of interest in technology, which means that he has moved 711 away from a new community to a general matter of common interest in technological development. Is it not true that interest in Europe is not in the creation of a new community as such, but in the opportunity of firms in a wider market to do technological development together? That is the thing on which we should concentrate.
§ The Prime MinisterThe right hon. Gentleman has made great play of three possible meanings of the word "community". I agree with the last part of his supplementary question. I stressed in all our talks in Europe that, although technological co-operation between Britain and other European countries is possible in present circumstances, really effective technological collaboration, pooling and the creation of new technological products on a joint basis is possible only if we are in one market. I stressed that very strongly in my talks in Europe.