§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken by the Commission of the EEC to prevent member States from signing the proposed United Nations Convention on a code of conduct for liner conferences; in what ways any parts of this draft convention conflict with the Treaty of Rome; and what reasons are advanced by the Commission for taking action in this matter.
§ Mr. HattersleyThe Commission considers that member States should adopt a common policy towards the convention, and that they should not sign or ratify it unilaterally. Her Majesty's Government support this view, since implementation of the convention, against which the United Kingdom voted in Geneva in 1974, would, in their opinion, invoke an unacceptable degree of interference in commercial operations. We are taking an active part in current discussions on the question of the convention's compatibility with the Treaty of Rome.