§ Q3. Mr. Wallasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on negotiations with the European Economic Community.
§ The Prime MinisterAs I have said many times before, our application for full membership of the European Economic Community still stands. Many of the 579 relevant questions are likely to be discussed at the Western European Union Meeting next week.
§ Mr. WallI applaud the Government's determination to try to reverse the French veto. May I ask the right hon. Gentleman to continue to bear in mind that the alternative of the Atlantic Free Trade Area, which could become more positive after the American Presidential Elections, would not preclude our joining the E.E.C. at a later date?
§ The Prime MinisterThis must be a matter of opinion. We have discussed this across the Floor of the House on many occasions in the past. I am not sure that certain manifestations of increased protectionism in the United States provide any more hope than before that such a project is possible. But all of us, whichever way we feel we should move immediately, regard our application to join the Common Market as one step towards a wider area of free trade in the world.
§ Mr. HeathAt the Assembly of the W.E.U. meeting in Paris on Tuesday the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs indicated that he thought that proposals from the Government would lead to fresh developments in European co-operation in defence. The Minister spoke of breaking out of a cul-de-sac. Can the right hon. Gentleman say what these developments will be?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that this must be a matter for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary when he attends the W.E.U. meeting next week. I think we are all concerned simply because of the road block, and we all know where it came from, on our application. We have been confined in recent months to a valuable, but to some extent a frustrating, exercise in attempting to secure some new machinery which will enable us to develop European co-operation even in the face of the veto. What we are concerned with, and what my noble friend had in mind at that meeting, was that in addition to providing the machinery of co-operation such as through the Benelux proposals, we must try to find some content for that machinery to work on in the technological sphere, in the sphere of political unity, and within the very important limitations provided by the fact that military co-operation must be in 580 N.A.T.O. in the field of defence, for example defence procurement.
§ Mr. SandysIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that there has been a very widespread welcome on the Continent for Lord Chalfont's speech on Tuesday in which he made it clear that while the British Government were maintaining their application to join the Community they were prepared to seek other ways of making progress on matters outside the scope of the Treaty of Rome?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that the right hon. Gentleman is right, but to some extent we have met obstructions even in initiatives of this kind, by the attempt to prove that most of these are within the sphere of the Common Market, for example technology, and therefore there cannot be discussions between the Six, and the as yet non-members of the Community, though I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will be the first to agree—indeed he was a long way ahead of many of us in this—that none of these initiatives can in any way be a substitute for membership.
§ Mr. Arthur LewisAs the last two questioners and my right hon. Friend have mentioned the W.E.U. meeting on Tuesday and Lord Chalfont's speech, may I ask my right hon. Friend to explain why there was not a vote on Tuesday and why the conference had to stand adjourned until the following day to get a vote?
§ The Prime MinisterI am sorry, but I am not responsible for the democratic procedures of the W.E.U. Assembly. I shall be glad to inquire into what happened though I cannot take any responsibility for it.