§ 42. Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he is satisfied with progress within the European Economic Community on the harmonisation of standards in goods.
§ Mr. ChannonTechinical harmonisation within the Community has proved disappointingly slow. The Government therefore support fully current initiatives under which members states would
221W— co-operate under directive 189/83/EEC to avoid the introduction of national requirements likely to impair operation of the internal market;— adopt a new approach to technical harmonisation and standardisation along the lines proposed in the Commission's communication of 31 January 1985 to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(85)19 final);—seek to strengthen the capacity to standardise at European level.The Government hope that together these initiatives will speed up technical harmonisation and make a major contribution to completion of the internal market.