CONFIDENTIAL
B.
TALKING POINTS
Our reasons for seeking membership of the E.E.C.
Our decision to seek membership of the E.E.C. is essentially political. We have always been a part of Europe, although,
because of our many world-wide interests, Europe has not always
been in the forefront of our thinking. For that reason it fell
to others to offer Europe a new road to unity. This was based
on the recognition that the best hope of ending the political divisions of the Continent lay in working for greater economic
unity,
We have great admiration for what the Community has
already achieved towards stilling long-standing national
rivalries. We believe that Britain's entry would set the seal
on this reconciliation. A Community enlarged and strengthened
by British membership would, we think, be in a much better
position to achieve a real detente with the countries of
Eastern Europe, and to give help to the developing countries
of the world.
Commonwealth consultations
2.
We have kept all Commonwealth Governments, including your
own, informed about the development of our thinking on
Common Market questions at every stage, and we shall continue
to do so. Just before we finally decided to apply for
membership of the Community, we asked Commonwealth Governments,
through our High Commissioners, if there were any special
considerations they wanted us to bear in mind; and we took
the views of Commonwealth Governments fully into account.
3. When the Prime Minister announced the decision to apply
for membership of the Community in the House of Commons
on 2 May, he made it clear that we had very much in mind the
interests of Commonwealth countries.
He said on that occasion:
CONFIDENTIAL
/"It is our
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