HC Deb 04 July 1955 vol 543 cc69-70W
Mr. Renton

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has yet received an invitation to take part in the work of the preparatory committee set up by the Governments of France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the German Federal Republic at the Messina Conference.

Mr. H. Macmillan

Yes. The formal invitation to participate in the studies to be undertaken by a committee of Government representatives pursuant to the Messina Conference was conveyed to Her Majesty's Government in a Note from the Netherlands Foreign Minister dated 30th June. I replied on 1st July accepting the invitation to take part in the studies, and explaining that Her Majesty's Government will be happy to examine, without prior commitment and on their merits, the many problems which are likely to emerge from the studies.

I will lay the correspondence before the House tomorrow as a White Paper.