HC Deb 19 May 1976 vol 911 cc1405-8
46. Mr. Marten

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will next meet the EEC Foreign Ministers.

49. Mr. Moate

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next expects to meet other EEC Foreign Ministers.

Mr. Crosland

I met the other EEC Foreign Ministers at an informal meeting in Luxembourg last Friday and Saturday and expect to meet them again at the Council of Ministers in Brussels on 31st May and 1st June.

Mr. Marten

Are we allowed to know a little more about what was said at that meeting? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that several news bulletins on Sunday said that among the items on the agenda was consideration of what steps Ministers could take to prevent the further disintegration of the Community? Was that so?

Mr. Crosland

No, that was not so. As I am rather new to my present post, I have to read my brief occasionally. I am instructed that the discussions in Luxembourg, like similar discussions with the Foreign Ministers of any country, are traditionally confidential.

Mr. Roy Hughes

Will my right hon. Friend draw the attention of the other Foreign Ministers when he next meets them to the vast quantities of EEC motor vehicles coming into this country? Is he aware that they had over 22 per cent. penetration of the British market in the first three months of this year? Will he take steps to have this figure cut back, besides exhorting our own people to buy British in order to keep themselves in employment?

Mr. Crosland

That would be a very interesting matter to discuss. In another context I was discussing it in relation to Japanese motor vehicle exports when I was in Japan. I feel very strongly that, at the end of the day, there is only one solution to this problem and that is for the British motor industry to pull its socks up.

Mr. Moate

Will the Foreign Secretary be taking up with his colleagues in the EEC the question of Greek membership of the Community? Is it his policy to promote the earliest possible membership of Greece? Is he satisfied that there will be no dragging of feet by the Commission in this matter?

Mr. Crosland

It is certainly the British Government's policy to promote Greece's entry into the Community. This matter was not discussed in detail last week-end, but I have no doubt that it will be raised at the next Council of Ministers' meeting at the end of May or beginning of June.

Mr. Skinner

Will my right hon. Friend take up with the other Foreign Ministers the question of bribery and corruption between various multinational companies, Common Market countries and politicians in those countries? Is he aware that a Treasury Minister said yesterday that we could not go it alone in this matter? We were told that one of the reasons why we should join the Common Market was that there could be harmonisation. Why do we not have some harmonisation on this—

Mr. Speaker

Order. Let us have some harmonisation.

Mr. Crosland

As I have frequently said, I am against harmonisation for harmonisation's sake. I was not aware that a Treasury Minister gave my hon. Friend a reply yesterday, but I am absolutely sure that it was wise, discreet and generally statesmanlike.

Mrs. Winifred Ewing

May I ask the Foreign Secretary a very simple question? When he next meets his EEC colleagues, will he discuss the impossible idea that a 12-mile limit would do for the inshore fishing industry in Great Britain?

Mr. Crosland

The hon. Lady need not lecture me on the fishing industry. If there is one European subject I do understand it is the importance of an agreement on a common fisheries policy. I shall certainly bear in mind and underline the hon. Lady's remarks, with which I strongly agree.

Mr. William Hamilton

Following the meeting in Luxembourg last week there were optimistic reports in the Press about the possibility of meeting the target date for direct elections. Can my right lion. Friend say whether there was any justification for those reports?

Mr. Crosland

The discussions were not so much concerned with the date and method of direct elections as with the constitution of the Parliament. We spent many hours discussing the constitution and, although there was not agreement, we narrowed down the range of options we thought were open to us. This is a critical and controversial matter and it still remains to be decided.

Mr. Hurd

asked Would the Foreign Secretary accept that one of the plans which seems to have been discussed and which would keep the existing size of the Parliament, and therefore the 36 seats for the United Kingdom, would be very hard for this House to accept? Is he aware that such a plan would make it almost impossible to secure fair representation for the different parts of the United Kingdom?

Mr. Crosland

I am extremely conscious of that fact.

Mr. McNamara

asked In his discussions last week, did my right hon. Friend have time to pause and comment on the statement of M. Lardinois about the impossibility of getting a common fisheries policy and the difficulty of getting any sort of agreement through the national Parliaments? Did he therefore tell his colleagues that, if we cannot have a sensible policy to protect our industry, the Government will have to take unilateral action to ensure that the interests of our fishermen are properly protected?

Mr. Crosland

I would never say anything as provocative as my hon. Friend suggested, but I dropped a number of hints suggesting that, as far as I was concerned, the common fisheries policy had an exceptionally high priority.