HC Deb 20 January 1970 vol 794 c226
3. Mr. Kenneth Baker

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement on the discussions held in London on 4th and 5th December with the French Finance Minister.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Roy Jenkins)

M. Giscard d'Estaing visited London at my invitation on 4th December. We had most useful discussions on a wide range of topics within our respective responsibilities.

Mr. Baker

May I press the right hon. Gentleman to say a little more about what was actually discussed? For example, did the discussions include the subjects of the value-added tax, of agricultural support for the Common Market or of a European currency? Were the discussions a preliminary skirmish to the negotiations that will occur later this year?

Mr. Jenkins

No. The discussions were confidential, and the hon. Gentleman and the House will, on reflection, agree that it is desirable that they should have been confidential. That does not mean that they were highly secret or that matters of great sensitivity were dealt with. We ranged over a wide field of subjects, mainly of international monetary matters of mutual concern. We were certainly not concerned with negotiations or even with preliminaries to negotiations.