§ Q3. Mr. Rifkindasked the Prime Minister when he next intends to pay an official visit to Brussels.
§ The Prime MinisterI have at present no plans to do so, Sir.
§ Mr. RifkindWill the Prime Minister confirm that the recent successful negotiations in Brussels and elsewhere with the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries fully meet the Government's requirements concerning the Third World? Will he confirm that the Third World and New Zealand are anxious that Britain should remain within the Community?
§ The Prime MinisterThe ACP negotiations, on which my right hon. Friend the Minister of Overseas Development reported to the House, were a great achievement. We all take great satisfaction from them. I have publicly stated that I believe that it makes a big contribution to meeting the particular requirement set out in our manifesto. I have had full discussions with the New 1108 Zealand Prime Minister, who says that this is entirely a matter for Britain and the referendum. He told me that New Zealand is anxious about the effect on New Zealand trade with Britain of the terms so meekly accepted by the last Conservative Government, which we criticised at the time. This is because those terms limit what New Zealand can sell us. I am happy to tell the House that we do not accept those terms of 1971 and we are negotiating for a continuance of New Zealand trade with this country, which the Tory Party was prepared to throw away.
§ Mr. David SteelSince the renegotiations are now going along so splendidly, may I ask the Prime Minister whether he can tell the House how long it will be before he is able to go to Brussels and assure the British people working there for the Commission that they will not have to pack their bags and come home to join the unemployed?
§ The Prime MinisterThe negotiations are not in the main taking place in Brussels, except in so far as from time to time the Council of Ministers meets there. The negotiations are now in the hands not of the Brussels organisation so much as of the Foreign Ministers. Progress is being made. There is still a very long way to go, as the House knows. I hope we shall make considerable progress on outstanding issues at the summit meeting in Dublin next month.
§ Mr. Roy HughesWill my right hon. Friend make it a fundamental point of the renegotiations that there shall be no interference by the Common Market with the full implementation of the provisions of the Industry Bill when it is enacted, even if this means renegotiating Articles 92, 94 and 189 of the Treaty of Rome? Does he agree that legislation such as the Industry Bill is vitally necessary if the country is to be put on a sound economic footing once again?
§ The Prime MinisterIn all the debates we have had, in this country and overseas, I have always been assured by pro-Marketeers that nothing in the rules or practices of the Common Market is intended to interfere with the right of a member country to take further industries or parts of industries into public ownership. This is what we are always told 1109 and I believe people to be genuine when they say these things. At the moment I am slightly more worried—and it is an important manifesto point—about certain aspects of regional aid and about the ECSC Treaty as it concerns the steel industry.