SECRET
of the Six seemed disposed to accept this formula but, under pressure from France, they proposed a further stipulation that counter-action should be taken if it were shown in turn that Hong Kong's exports were causing disruption to industry in the
ven then the French were not disposed to agres,
Community.
and the question had not come to a crunch before the French
terminated the negotiations.
Future Negotiations
The
8. The position in any future negotiations could well
be similar to the above. It should be noted, however, that in the meantime Hong Kong's exports to the Common Markot have increased very rapidly (more than doubled since 1962). Five (Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) do not impose quantitative import restrictions on Hong Kong products and Hong Kong is obliged to exercise export restraint only in the case of a few cotton textile products (under the G.A.T.T. Cotton fextiles Long Term Arrangement) and in the special case of woollen knitwear exports to Germany (where Hong Kong holds a very large share of the market).
DOS.
The
sition in France is different. France refused to carry
out her ola 0.E.E.0. obligations to liberalise imports from
Hong Kong as a colony of a Member State and, although recently she has agreed to certain minor easements, in practice she still maintains very strict control on imports from the territory.
9. From this it is clear that in any future negotiations
on the position of on Kong in the event of Britain joining,
the attitude of France will, as last time, be crucial and that
she is likely to press for restrictive terms.
Common Commercial Policy
10. The establishment of a full Common Market implies
that eventually it must also have a common commercial policy
on external trade. So far the only element of this policy
SECRET
/the
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.