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CONFIDENTIAL
by the Attorney General.
4. The Department of Trade have prepared a background note for their Ministers which gives the Community's objectives in the negotiations in some detail. I attach a copy of this which I am arranging for us to send by the first available
bag to all posts in countries with whom the Community is conducting or intends to conduct bilateral negotiations.
Progress in the negotiations fo far
5.
Negotiations are taking place simultaneously with most of the
countries at Annex 1 to the attached note. Confidential memor and a
of understanding have been initialled by the Commission (but have not yet been given the necessary final endorsement by the Member States) with Singapore, Colombia, Macao, Uruguay, Philippines and Thailand. Negotiations with Brazil, Mexico and Sri Lanka have been broken off. India has not yet been prepared to begin serious talks. Negotiations with Hong Kong are at an important stage (see below).
There is to be a progress report by the Commission to the Foreign Affairs Council on 22 November. The December Foreign Affairs Council will probably have to take the final decision on whether to impose any unilateral measures on recalcitrant supplying countries, and if so, at what levels and on which countries. Only after this decision has been taken will the Community decide whether or not to sign a renewed IFA.
6.
7.
a)
It is too early yet to give firm conclusions about progress in many individual negotiations. But the Commission believe that the major problems are the preferential countries, India and Brazil. I would add Hong Kong. The situation in each case is as follows:
Freferential countries. The Community will have to act first through a request for vuluntary restraint against these countries (Turkey, Greece, Spain, Fortugal, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia). If they refuse, the Commission intends to threaten use of the safeguard clauses under the various preferential agreements involved. There is one particular problem in that the safeguard clause of the EEC/Greece Association Agreement has expired. But I expect the Greeks, with their accession firmly in mind, to agree to some measure of voluntary restraint.
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