TNAG-1148-FCO40-1428-Effect-on-Hong-Kong-of-the-Portuguese-and-Spanish-accession--1982 — Page 8

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early 1983. The Commission agreed with the Portuguese

view that the faster progress was made with Portugal,

the easier progress would be with Spain, with one

already settled and the other en route.( Mr Hannay

agreed). The Portuguese would be ready to sign an

Accession Agreement at the beginning of 1983. They

would be prepared to wait for a few months to see how

progress went with Spain. Such a delay could help

Portuguese entrepreneurs see the framework of the

Agreements and prepare for entry. It would also serve

to put pressure on the French. Was this realistic?

Mr Hannay replied that this was entirely realistic as a

negotiating method, but one could not be sure as to how

it would work out in practice. The question of

separate accession should not be raised prematurely,

since it could lead to major political problems.

Dr Salguiero agreed.

A.

Dr Salguiero asked about the problems in the

Spanish negotiations. Mr Hannay described the problems

of the imbalance in the EC/Spain 1970 Agreement and the

wish on the part of the Community to correct this

imbalance by ecrêtement. There would be major problems

over agriculture especially olive oil,with a need to

reform the Mediterranean acquis so as not to face the same problems with Mediterranean surpluses as with

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