DISCUSSION ON EEC
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
BETWEEN SIR CHRISTOPHER SOAMES CBE & REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINE IN HONG KONG
ON MONDAY 10 SEPTEMBER AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE HONG KONG
Present
Members of the EEC Party:
Sir Christopher Soames - Commissioner
Mr David Hanny
Chef de Cabinet to Commissioner
Mr Clive Gibson
Mr Pierre Malve
Member of Commissioner's Cabinet
Member of Cabinet of President Ortoli
Mr Benedict Meynell Director, Directorate General of External Relations M Michel Lehembre. Directorate General for Industry
Representatives of the Nine:
Mr D Banneel - Acting Consul General for Belgium
Mr F Geoffroy-Dechaume
Consul General for France
Mr S Golofier Trade Commissioner & Consul for France
Mr W Bente - Acting Consul General for Germany
Mr P Morano - Consul General for Italy
Mr J Kooy Consul for Netherlands
lir T Aston - Senior Trade Commissioner, British Trade Commission Mr
Sir Christopher Soames explained that it was the practice whenever a visiting EEC Commissioner was in a "third country" for him to brief the local representatives of the Nine on developments in the EEC and of any discussions he might have with the local government. Since Hong Kong was a "third country" from many points of view he was following this convention. He explained that his visit to Hong Kong had not been especially planned but since he was passing this way on route to the GATT Conference in Tokyo it seemed proper to call in to have brief discussions to form his own impression of the Hong Kong Government's problems and attitude.
He had had talks with Hong Kong officials prior to the discussion with the representatives of the Nine and he would be meeting at lunch with members of UMELCO. He summarised Hong Kong's three main "anxieties" as they had so far emerged from his talks as follows:
GS P
Hong Kong was concerned about their "arbitrary" (as they see it) exclusion from the GSP on textiles and shoes when their rivals were included. In particular they were concerned about the sharpening of this discrimination if the UK adopts the EEC GSP because this would mean that Hong Kong would lose the Commonwealth preferential advantages which they at present have in UK while textiles are not included at all in the present UK GSP.
Sir Christopher Soames said that he had reminded the Hong Kong officials of how Hong Kong came to be included in the EEC GSP at all, stressing that they would not have been included had it not been for the enlargement of the Community and that the fact that they had been included would give them an advantage in negotiations for the inclusion in both Japan GSP and the USA GSP. He had told them that there could be no possibility of getting rid of the GSP on textiles and shoes (which was one solution that Hong Kong would favour). At the same time the Commission recognised that there was a problem of discrimination and they would have to think of how they might be able to solve it and put the
proposals to