§ Mr. Lyellasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Council meeting on internal market questions held in Luxembourg on 21 June.
§ Mr. ChannonThe meeting of the Council, held on 21 June and which I attended, was the fourth to be devoted to questions of the internal market of the European Community.
There was further discussion of the questions of the proposed new common commercial policy regulation and of the proposal for Community certification of products of third country origin. A number of issues were clarified; substantial differences remain between the positions of member states.
It did not prove possible on this occasion to reach final agreement on the Commission proposals to improve the infrastructure for innovation and technology transfer within the Community nor on the proposed directive on proprietary medicinal products. The latter proposal promises a small but useful step to facilitate intra-Community trade in those products.
The next meeting of the Council on internal market matters is to be held in September. I expect that a further programme of work for liberalisation of trade in goods and services within the Community will be discussed then.