§ Baroness Sharplesasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 6th November.
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§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Brabazon of Tara)My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and my honourable friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs represented the UK at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 6th November.
There was brief discussion, on the basis of a Presidency progress report, of work on the various aspects of frontiers policy. Like the Presidency, my right honourable friend stressed the importance of effective action against the drugs menace. In a brief discussion of economic and monetary issues, the Presidency, member states and the Commission indicated that further work should take account of the UK paper An Evolutionary Approach to Economic and Monetary Union.
The Council formally adopted the EC/US Steel Voluntary Restraint Arrangement and discussed various other EC/US trade issues, including the dispute on hormones in meat.
As a further part of its programme to assist economic reform in Poland and Hungary, the Council agreed to liberalise as from 1st January 1990 all discriminatory import restrictions applied against Poland and Hungary. The Council also agreed in principle to add both countries to the list of countries benefiting from the EC's Generalised Scheme of Preferences.
The Commission reported on progress in the GATT Uruguay Round. The Council confirmed the importance it attached to a successful outcome to the round and welcomed the acceptance of the EC's offer of Brussels as as a venue for the final meeting.
The Council approved in principle the Generalised Scheme of Preferences for 1990.
The Council discussed follow-up to the audio-visual conference in Paris in October.
In the margins of the Council, my honourable friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs attended a biennial meeting of the EC/Egypt Co-operation Council. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also had a separate meeting with the Egyptian Foreign Minister.