§ Q4. Mr. Meacherasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his speech to the Congress of Europe 1973 at Guildhall on 13th May on economic and social policies.
§ Q6. Mr. Ashtonasked the Prime Minister whether he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech about Europe at Guildhall on 13th May.
§ Q8. Mr. Skinnerasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech made at Guildhall, London, on 13th May on the Common Market.
§ Q10. Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Prime Minister whether he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech in Guildhall on European affairs on 13th May.
§ Q11. Mr. Dalyellasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech to the European Movement at Guildhall on Sunday 13th May.
§ Q18. Mr. Adleyasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his speech at Guildhall in London on Sunday 13th May on Europe.
§ Q19. Mr. Molloyasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of his public speech on Sunday 13th May at Guildhall on the EEC.
§ The Prime MinisterI did so on 14th May, Sir.
§ Mr. MeacherAs the Prime Minister discussed the EEC regional fund, does he not agree that funds of at least £500 million will be required if Britain is to avoid reduced regional aid? What are his chances of obtaining this without major concessions on the CAP, although British food prices are already 18 per cent. higher than they were a year ago?
§ The Prime MinisterThe Commission has put forward basic proposals concerning regional policy and these are now being discussed with individual member States of the Community. They have already been discussed at one meeting of the Council of Ministers and will be dealt with later. I do not propose to put speculative figures on the amount of the regional fund.
§ Mr. LamontDoes my right hon. Friend recall that the Congress of Europe sent a telegram to the Greek Government about the imprisonment of Mr. 1202 John Pesmazoglou? Does he not agree that, while the internal affairs of other countries may usually be their own concern, in a situation where an ex-Prime Minister has talked of impending bloodshed in that country and where the Greek Government have repeatedly dishonoured pledges to hold free elections, this must be a matter of concern for both NATO and the EEC?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree that these are matters of concern. It is a question whether NATO or the Community as such, with which Greece is associated, can take any effective action in this matter. At present I do not know of any action which either NATO or the Community as such could take.
§ Mr. AshtonBut in that speech the Prime Minister used the phrase:
It is not the pursuit of national advantage which is the basis of our policy.It appears to many hon. Members, on both sides of the House, that the right hon. Gentleman now cares more about the Common Market than he does about this Parliament. Will he reassure us about this, or shall we see him for ever pushing the policies of the Common Market before those of this house?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman is quite wrong. What I explained was that we are interested in the welfare of the Community as a whole as well as in our own national advantage, and this surely is the correct attitude for all members of the Community.
§ Mr. AdleyDoes my right hon. Friend agree that far from denying ourselves our own sovereignty we are, by joining Europe, taking similar steps to those which motivated people to join trade unions, the motivation being that there is strength in unity?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. We are sharing sovereignty with other members of the Community and we have influence over the other members because we have jointly pooled our sovereignty in order to reach common solutions to common problems. In this respect we are no different from other organisations in which we pool sovereignty. In the United Nations, when the Security Council passes mandatory sanctions, they are binding on this Parliament whatever 1203 it may care to say or do, and they are binding on sucessive Governments, as we are in that position following the action of our predecessors.
§ Mr. SkinnerOn the question of the Common Market, is the Prime Minister aware that we all understand the dilemma that he is facing at present? Before he makes such statements as he did at Guildhall, such as seeing a vision of a European Union before the end of the decade, would it not be a better idea to have a word with his right hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Mr. Powell)? He could even ask him to write.
§ The Prime MinisterI assure the hon. Gentleman that there is no dilemma for me; but there may be one for his right hon. Friend.
§ Mr. Dalyelllf, however, to borrow the Prime Minister's phrase, he is so happy with the situation that we should have an all-embracing relationship with our European partners, why is it that we have had so little influence with the Government of France in the matter of nuclear tests? [Interruption.]
§ The Prime MinisterNo, it is not a laughing matter, although I saw one hon. Member of the Opposition laughing.
I have repeatedly explained our position concerning nuclear tests by the French Government. It is exactly the same position as that of the previous administration: that we should prefer them to have joined the partial test ban treaty and not to be carrying out tests in the air. That is our position, which is perfectly understood. As regards the Community and our influence there, if the hon. Gentleman were to discuss these matters with the Heads of Government in the Community he would see how great British influence has been in the five months since we have been a member.
§ Mr. MolloyDuring his speech the Prime Minister said that the Community did not exist for bureaucrats and economists. This was probably because the Prime Minister could see that the Community really exists for bureaucrats 1204 and economists. Ought he not to have seen this before he rushed in to sign the treaty? Even if there are advances on the material plane, the British people will not allow their democratic procedures to be sacrificed to a bureaucratic dominance that now exists in the European Economic Community. Will the Prime Minister make that quite clear? If things are not going to change, and if he has slipped up in taking us in, he should have the courage to take us out. If not, will he move over and allow us to do so?
§ The Prime MinisterThe Communities were created to bring greater peace and prosperity to the peoples of Europe; that was their original purpose. That is the purpose we are determined to maintain. I said that in Guildhall in as simple words as I could.
§ Mr. ThorpeAs the speech of 13th May which the Prime Minister made on the issue of Europe has been placed in the Library, will the Prime Minister, to get the balance, place in the Library the other speeches made on 29th July 1969 by the then Prime Minister, the then Leader of the Opposition and the present Leader of the Liberal Party? Is the Prime Minister aware that modesty compels me to say that they were all equally brilliant in their total dedication to the European cause and that any waverer on that subject, particularly on the Labour benches, would have been totally converted had he been present on that occasion? Even though we believe in a free society, it should at least be suggested that those speeches be mandatory reading for hon. Members on both sides.
§ The Prime MinisterI well remember the evening to which the right hon. Gentleman refers—and what a united happy band of brothers we were.
§ Mr. Harold WilsonDoes the right hon. Gentleman recall not only the warnings I gave about the terms of entry but that some well-chosen words of his on that occasion were used in a Daily Express front page story next day saying
Heath hedging on the Common Market
§ The Prime MinisterNot for the first time, the Daily Express was wrong.