§ 10. Mr. Martenasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the next Ministerial meeting of the European Free Trade Association.
§ Mr. John DaviesI would refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for St. Marylebone (Mr. Kenneth Baker) on 10th November. My right hon. Friend will, however, be attending a further E.F.T.A. ministerial meeting later this week.—[Vol. 806, c. 116.]
§ Mr. MartenIn view of General de Gaulle's disclosures in the Soames affair, and as the Prime Minister is about to visit General de Gaulle's successor, would not this meeting of E.F.T.A. be an appropriate moment to widen discussions and to talk about a conference of E.F.T.A. and E.E.C. on a wider free trade area?
§ Mr. DaviesThe principal item at this forthcoming meeting of E.F.T.A., as on the last occasion, will be the whole of the negotiations going on between individual countries and the Community. This matter will certainly be under very close discussion. However, I think it is difficult to widen it in the way that my hon. Friend suggests, pending a clearer decision on the negotiations.
§ Mr. EadieCould the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that he is not treating this proposed meeting lightly, on the assumption that we are going into the Common Market? The right hon. Gentleman must agree, surely, that there is overwhelming opposition in this country to going into the Common Market. Therefore, to treat such a matter lightly would be fatal to the interests of this country.
§ Mr. DaviesLet me assure the hon. Gentleman that no Ministerial meeting of E.F.T.A. is treated lightly. In particular, this one, which will be the first held at Reykjavik, will be treated with due gravity by my right hon. Friend.
§ Mr. John HallWould my right hon. Friend not agree that it is incorrect to say that there is overwhelming opposition in this country to entry into the Common Market?
§ Mr. DaviesYes, that is certainly my view.