It is in this spirit that the Government intend to embark on the negotiations which must precede entry. The House will, I am sure, agree that they ought not to be unnecessarily complicated with lesser issues, many of which can be best dealt with after entry. It is our hope that the negotiations will be followed through swiftly, and will relate to the small number of really important issues which have been identified through our recent discussions, issues on which agreement should be reached if the House and the country are to be satisfied that essential British and Commonwealth interests will be safeguarded. This is the spirit in which the original partners to the Community conducted their own negotiations over ten years ago. Our recent meeting with our E.F.T.A. partners has confirmed that they too view the matter in the same light. They will, we hope, also be making their approaches to E.E.C.
I now turn to the major issues which it must be our purpose to resolve during the negotiations.
First, there are the problems associated with the operation of the Common Agricultural Policy of the Community-the problems of its potential effects on the cost of living and on the structure and wellbeing of British agri- culture; problems of the budgetary and balance of payments implications of its system of financing; and certain Commonwealth problems with which I will deal in a moment.
As I have already made clear, publicly, we must be realistic and recognise that the Community's agricultural policy is an integral part of the Community; we must come to terms with it. But the Government recognise that this policy would involve far reaching changes in the structure of British agriculture. This will require suitable arrangements, including an adequate transitional period, to enable the necessary adjust- ments to be made.
It is also the Government's view that the financial arrangements which have been devised to meet the requirements of the Community's agricultural policy as it exists today would, if applied to Britain as they now stand, involve an inequitable sharing of the financial cost and impose on our balance of payments an additional burden which we should not in fairness be asked to carry.
There are also highly important Commonwealth interests, mainly in the field of agriculture, for which it is our duty to seek safeguards in the negotiations. These include, in particular, the special problems of New Zealand and of Commonwealth sugar producing countries, whose needs are at present safeguarded by the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement. We have, as the House knows, been in touch with all our Commonwealth partners, and will make special arrangements to keep in close consultation with them, as with our E.F.T.A. partners, throughout the negotiations.
Again, as the House knows, capital movements raise questions of special importance. Our discussions suggest that these can be dealt with by suitable arrangements.
Another important issue is the question of regional policies. Here too we had to satisfy ourselves that we should be able, as members of the Community, to continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the industrial
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