TNAG-1326-FCO40-1738-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-debates-1984 — Page 184

determination to win a fair and just settlement of the

problem.

14. Those agreements are now being put into effect.

We are in the final stages of negotiating a text which

will guarantee the effective application of the

principles of budget discipline agreed at

Fontainebleau.

At last we shall see the principles of

sound financial management which we apply in our

domestic economy operating effectively in the

Community.

15. At the same time, and despite predictions from the

benches opposite, our refunds for 1983 have been

released and paid.

16. These achievements have cleared the way for

further progress. Budget discipline represents a major

step forward. We are now working to ensure that it is

matched by firm control of agricultural surpluses,

implemented through a rigorous price policy. In doing

so, we recognise that radical change cannot be achieved

overnight. So we shall make sure that our contribution

to the Community's supplementary budget for 1984 is the

absolute minimum. Not a penny more than is necessary

to meet the Community's inescapable financial

obligations, and to safeguard payments to British

farmers.

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