§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Minister of Overseas Development what are the main areas of responsibility of her Department which are likely to be affected by the proposed enlargement of the EEC to include Spain, Portugal and Greece; and what special action is being taken within her Department to examine the problems which will arise.
§ Mr. TomlinsonI refer my hon. Friend to the memorandum on enlargement dated 7th March 1978 submitted by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to the Select Committee on European Legislation. That indicated that Spain, Portugal and Greece were likely to favour the present geographical bias of Community aid programmes towards Africa and the Mediterranean, though Spain and Portugal might press for a new priority to be given to Latin America.
Portugal and Greece at present benefit from Community aid through the financial protocols attached to their agreements for association, but when they join the Community no further financial commitments will be undertaken under the protocols and there will accordingly be no call on my Department for a contribution to the EEC budget other than for commitments already entered into.
My Department will take an active part in all discussions on the involvement of the new member States in EEC aid policy and programmes and will continue to press for distribution of Community aid on a world wide basis which takes due account of the poverty and population of the recipient States; and it will take an active part in all discussions of the effect of enlargement on the Community's trading relationships with developing countries.