HC Deb 23 June 1983 vol 44 cc9-10W
Mr. Chapman

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting of 21 and 22 June.

Mr. Rifkind

My right hon. and learned Friend represented the United Kingdom in Luxembourg at the last Foreign Affairs Council of the German Presidency. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development and I were also present.

There was an informal discussion over lunch of how to follow up the European Council conclusions on the future financing of the Community. The European Council had agreed that special meetings of the Council should be held and Foreign Ministers agreed to hold the first of these meetings on 8 July in Brussels.

The Council adopted a regulation which will provide assistance worth 100 million ecu—about £58 million—to infrastructure investment projects contributing to urban renewal in the Belfast area. Ministers also continued their discussions on a new regional development fund regulation. This was referred back to the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) for further consideration.

The terms of a new financial protocol to the EC/Cyprus association agreement were agreed. This will provide Cyprus with 28 million ecu— about £16 million— in loans from the European Investment Bank and with a further 16 million ecu— about £9 million— in special loans and grants from the Community budget. There was no agreement on the terms of a similar protocol to the EC/Malta association agreement and this too has been referred to COREPER for further discussion.

There was a preliminary exchange of views on the Commission's draft mandate for the renegotiation of the Lomé convention. A full discussion will take place at the July meeting of the Council. The progress at UNCTAD VI, presently meeting in Belgrade, was reviewed by the Council who then asked COREPER to consider at its meeting today the outstanding points in the Community's position. A Commission proposal to impose definitive anti-dumping duties on certain types of magnesite from China and North Korea was also referred back for further technical consideration.

Ministers considered the latest proposals for the 1983 Community food aid programme and these were adopted. They include 1,043,369 tonnes of cereals, some of which may at a later stage be replaced by other forms of aid, and also 150,000 tonnes of milk powder.

A session of the negotiating conference with Spain was also held. Agreement was concluded on the taxation chapter of the accession negotiations, the provisions for tobacco taxation and the Spanish tobacco monopoly having been agreed. The Community also presented declarations on fisheries and external relations to the Spaniards.

Foreign Ministers of the Ten discussed the question of the "disappeared" in Argentina. They agreed that the Ten would make a further approach to the Argentine authorities to seek a satisfactory explanation of the fate of the missing persons.