of third countries; to promote the orderly expansion and modernisation production; and to provide better conditions of living and employment for the workers in the industries. The Community has at its disposal considerable funds which derive from levies on the coal and steel production of Community undertakings. These funds help the development of the industries, provide cheap loans for workers' houses, and help finance new employment opportunities and retraining schemes for any coal and steel employees who become redundant. They also provide grants for coal and steel research.
it.
155. It has been the declared policy of this Government, as of their predecessor, to accept the Treaty of Paris and the regulations made under At the Meeting of the Council of Western European Union at The Hague on 4 July 1967 the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the Right Hon. George Brown, MP, stated "In the case of the European Coal and Steel Community we seek only a limited period of transition. Thereafter we are prepared fully to implement these two Treaties (i.e., the Treaty of Paris and the Euratom Treaty) and all the arrangements made under them "*.
156. In the course of the negotiations we have secured terms which are acceptable to British coal and steel interests. The Community have assured us that they have no intention of calling into question the size or the legal position of the British Steel Corporation or the National Coal Board.
157. In general, the present relationship between the Government and the coal and steel industries will continue, although the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's powers to give directions of a general character will need to be modified. The industries themselves will remain free to develop on fully commercial lines. There is no question of their having to cut back production. The powers in the Treaty relating to the establishment of production quotas can only be used in times of "manifest crisis" and with the agreement of the Council of Ministers, of which we shall be a member. They have never in fact been used and there seems no likelihood of their being used. As regards investment more generally, the plans of our industries will remain entirely unaffected provided there is no question of unfair subsidisation. This is wholly in accord with present Government policy. On this basis, we have undertaken to bring our legislation and practices into line with the Treaty of Paris. One of the aims of the Treaty is to ensure the orderly supply and free movement of coal and steel throughout the Community and it would clearly be incompatible with this aim for Governments of individual member States to be able to distort competition by issuing directions on prices. The powers of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to give a direction on prices to the British Steel Corporation, arising out of a recommendation of the Iron and Steel Consumers' Council, will therefore, as already announced, need to be repealed. In the event of our entry the Iron and Steel Consumers' Council will be wound up. Further consideration is being given to the powers of the Coal Consumers' Councils. We shall however be appropriately
* The United Kingdom and the European Communities: Statement made by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, at the Meeting of the Council of Western European Union at The Hague on 4 July 1967. (Cmnd. 3345: July 1967.)
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