§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Lord Privy Seal what are the differences between the offer on a common fisheries policy made by the EEC at the European Council in Luxembourg and that made at the Foreign Affairs Council on 30 May.
§ Sir Ian GilmourThere was no"offer"on the common fisheries policy at either the Luxembourg European Council or at the 30 May Foreign Affairs Council.
At the Luxembourg European Council no agreement on a detailed text on on fisheries was possible because other member States were seeking an unqualified endorsement of the principle of equal conditions of access.
At the Foreign Affairs Council on 30 May we secured agreement to a fisheries 671W text which identified all the elements defined by Her Majesty's Government as essential components of a fisheries settlement. This text set out general guidelines which were fully compatible with Her Majesty's Government's stated negotiating objectives, and it left the substantive issues to the Fisheries Council for consideration on their merits.