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8. Mr. Cowperthwaite expressed concern at the possibility that
either in negotiations or later as a member of the enlarged
Community Britain might be compelled by the Six to put pressure
on Hong Kong to conform to certain policies against her wishes,
He agreed that it would not be a good idea to seek assurances
from the Six that they would not try to impose their will on
Hong Kong through Britain's membership, since this would merely
put the idea into their heads. But he thought that this was a
matter on which Britain and Hong Kong might usefully reach an
understanding between themselves, Mr. Audland pointed out that
this was a separate and more general matter than Hong Kong's
G.A.T.T. rights. But, since Hong Kong would neither be covered
by the application of the Treaty of Rome under Article 227 nor
associated with the Community, the Community would have no formal
rights against Hong Kong which they could cite in support of
demands of the kind described by Mr. Cowperthwaite.
how
9. Asked for a practical example of Hong Kong might be affected
by changes in her G.A.T.T. relationships if Britain joined the
Community, Mr. Cowperthwaite said that he envisaged a situation
in which the E.E.C. might impose quotas in the common commercial
policy. Hong Kong would have G.A.T.T. rights with which to
fight against this policy in respect of six Member States of an
enlarged Community but not in respect of the U.K. Sir A. Snelling
said that if such a matter came before the G.A.T.T. and were
decided in Hong Kong's favour, Britain could follow voluntarily
any course of action which the other members of the Community
were legally bound to follow. Mr. Audland said that an
advantage of British membership from Hong Kong's standpoint would
be that Britain could bring strong pressure to bear on Hong Kong's
behalf within the Community machinery. In alliance with the
more liberal of the Community's existing members, her influence
could be considerable. He recognised however that there would
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