Minutes
Angin, GEI were very much fringe of it he understood and go for there had been no undatsking on the extent of the support they micht expect from ECGD. The British Government were still fully behind the British proup.
At the Chamber of Commerce dinner in the evening Mr Sandberg remarked to me that as STC I now had a foot in both camma ie the British grown end the Anglo Franco German group, I said that T sumposed that in a sense I hed but as the Secretary of State had anid earlier in the dny the Anglo Franco Gezuan crown was not very Anglo. He said that he understood that GKN had a lot of contacts and they could not be lightly brushed to rue ride. I maid that this was certainly the ense but it was not yet known to me how far they had mobilised these. He plan nggumed that since they were such a Jarre proup and could enther together much sunport from British industry they would qualify for the game sort of terms as had been offered to the British croun; ng he saw it it would not be possible for ECGD to treat them leas fevourebly nor would it be possible for the British Government to be less forthcoming in its simport of a tri-national consortium then the other two Governments. I said that it should not be to readily assumed that we would give the same facilities to a part of the consortium os ve would do to a whole consortium; there were all sorts of possible shadings in the ECGD sunport. As to matching the support from the Goverments in e tri-national consortium it was first necessa to establish just what the others would be offering and then the extent to which we match it might well depend on the proportion of the contract we were getting.
My Sendbere
portly prompted by Mr Cater (who ★ ́s previous D C^T) has much experience in this sort of thing) asid that as he understood it the provisiona of the ECGD Jerislation made it nossible to do almost anything if it was decided that ther was a political need to do it. I said that it was certainly the case that if there was to be any significant diversion from the normal terms of ECGD cover then this would require political decision and the readiness to make such a decision would very much depend on whore Britain' interests ley.
12A.
Copy to:
T W Aston
2 April 1973
RESTRICTED
R. Fell ECGD
J
IC Wetson
Miss Welch A Stuart
G Finleyson
PG
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
CRE (2)
HKJOD
EPD
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