HC Deb 27 March 1985 vol 76 c207W
Mr. Forth

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with which parts of the programme of the Commission of the European Economic Community for 1985 Her Majesty's Government agree; and with which they disagree.

Mr. Rifkind

Copies of the Commission's programme, which is primarily designed to inform the European Parliament of the Commission's plans for its first year in office, have been placed in the Library of the House.

The programme contains much which coincides with our own priorities, for example:

  • the emphasis on price stability;
  • the recognition of the need to reform the CAP;
  • the priority accorded to completion of the international market;
  • the commitment to a more open transport system, including the phasing out of lorry quotas.

In some areas, such as social policy, some of the Commission priorities are different from our own and we regret it, for example, the absence of emphasis on the need to reduce the burden of regulation on European businesses. Not all the ideas set out in the paper will be turned into formal proposals. We shall make our views known on such proposals as they come forward.