Council of Ministers (Hansard, 4 April 1990)

§ 54. Mr. David Marshall
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the General Affairs Council of Ministers meeting of 2 to 3 April.

§ 61. Mr. Frank Cook
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the General Affairs Council of Ministers meeting of 2 to 3 April.

§ 86. Ms. Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the General Affairs Council of Ministers meeting of 2 to 3 April.

§ Mr. Maude
The Council which my right hon. Friend and I attended considered preparations for the inter-governmental conference due to open before the end of the year, and Herr Genscher reported on recent developments in Germany. The Commission reported on talks in Tokyo on EC/Japan trade; and on progress in EC/EFTA discussions; and on the signature of a trade, commercial and economic agreement with Czechoslovakia. We proposed that all quantitative restrictions on imports from Czechoslovakia should be removed from 1 July.
The council discussed work on immigration problems, and member states' policies on visas for eastern Europe. My right hon. Friend argued for further measures of Community support to the black population of South Africa, and a trade and co-operation agreement with Argentina was signed.
Ministers of the Twelve agreed, at my right hon. Friend's suggestion, to issue a further statement on Lithuania, urging restraint and dialogue as the way to achieve an outcome acceptable to all.