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UNLESS THOSE ASSURANCES HAD BORNE FRUIT 14 THE BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS IN THE MEANTIME. DAVIGNON STRESSED THAT NO DECISION ON THE RENEWAL OF THE MFA WOULD BE TAKEN UNTIL DECEMBER, BY WHICH TIME THE RESULTS OF THE BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS WOULD BE KNOWN. HE ALSO
· EMPHASISED THAT THE TEXT IN MIFT WOULD NOT MERELY BE A CHA IRMAN'S SUMMING-UP, WHICH THE COMMISSION HAD REJECTED: IT WOULD BE THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE TEXTILE COMMITTEE ITSELF AND WOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ANNEX SETTING OUT THE COMMUNITY'S OPENING STATEMENT IN GENEVA.
4. THIS TEXT HAD BEEN AGREED BETWEEN THE COMMISSION, THE USA AND JAPAN, WHO HAD TOLD LONG LAST NIGHT THAT THEY COULD ACCEPT A SOLUTION ALONG THESE LINES. IT WAS NOW UP TO LONG TO SELL THE TEXT TO THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. IF THEY ACCEPTED IT WELL AND GOOD: IF THEY PRODUCED A RIVAL TEXT, THE COMMUNITY'S BID WOULD BE OFF. THE COMMISSION WOULD REPORT THIS SITUATION TO COREPER NEXT WEEK, WITHOUT SEEKING THE FORMAL AGREEMENT OF THE COUNCIL. HE RECOGNISED THAT FRANCE AND PERHAPS OTHER MEMBER STATES WOULD OPPOSE, AND THAT MEMBER STATES MIGHT BE ALL THE MORE VIGILANT IN THE FORTHCOMING BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS. BUT THIS LATTER ATTITUDE WOULD BE HELPFUL TO THE COMMISSION.
5. IN CONCLUDING DAVIGNON EMPHASISED THAT IN HIS VIEW THIS WAS THE MOST THE COMMUNITY COULD HOPE FOR. THE IMMEDIATE POLITICAL UNDERSTANDING, BASED ON TEXTS WHICH NADE EXPLICIT REFERENCE TO THE COMMUNITY'S NEEDS, WOULD OPEN THE WAY TO EFFECTIVE BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS: BUT ONLY WHEN THEY WERE CONCLUDED (AT LEAST WITH THE MAJOR EXPORTING COUNTRIES) WOULD THE COMMUNITY HAVE TO DECIDE WHETHER TO RENEW THE MFA AS IT STOOD NOR NOT. SPEED WAS ESSENTIAL THOUGH THE PACE WOULD BE DICTATED BY THE ATTITUDE OF THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. IF THE COMMUNITY HELD UP THE DISCUSSIONS IT WOULD GIVE TIME FOR THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO DEVELOP FIRM POSITIONS ON THE BASIS OF REFERENCE TO CAPITALS AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MOMENT WOULD HAVE PASSED BY.
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