§ 49. Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress towards a common European Economic Community foreign policy.
§ Mr. HurdI refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on Thursday 1 July about the European Council. Foreign Ministers of the Ten also met in political co-operation on 9 and 21 June. Recent events show how important foreign policy co-operation now is for the member States of the Community.
§ Mr. KnoxWill my right hon. Friend confirm that he is giving the highest possible priority to the creation of a common EEC foreign policy?
§ Mr. HurdThe Ten Governments retain sovereignty on foreign policy matters and I believe that they wish to do so in future. More and more common positions on individual issues are reached by consensus, and that increases the influence that each country has in the rest of the world.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursDoes the Minister agree that the conflict in the Middle East offers the Government an ideal opportunity to forge that common policy arrangement? Despite his reply to me recently in a written answer about the Middle East, will he refer the matter back to the Ten and seek an initiative so that we can enter Ramallah prison to ascertain the extent of the maltreatment of the Palestinian people there by the Israeli authorities?
§ Mr. HurdIn the past few weeks the Ten have taken up a whole range of humanitarian questions with the Israeli Government—getting aid through, the treatment of prisoners and so on. In each case we must judge whether approaches are likely to be successful.
§ Mr. MoateWill my right hon. Friend make absolutely clear whether the Government believe in a Common Market foreign policy—or would he prefer to make it clear that the Government foresee a separate British voice speaking in the councils of the world and that British foreign policy will never be articulated by a Community spokesman based on a Community compromise? —
§ Mr. HurdI have already said that the Government—in common with all member States—retain their sovereignty to speak their mind on foreign policy matters. Increasingly we find that, to be effective, it is useful to reach agreement within the Ten and speak with one voice.
§ Mr. DeakinsDoes the Minister recognise that political co-operation is not the same as a common foreign policy? The Minister is in favour of political co-operation, like many hon. Members on both sides of the House, but most hon. Members are not in favour of a common foreign policy.