TNAG-1391-FCO40-1863-Future-of-Hong-Kong-briefing-for-meetings-and-visits-1985 — Page 10

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will probably need their own subject brief, as if they do come

up they may do so in some detail, and it will be less easy than at bilateral summits for the Prime Minister to remit discussion to other Ministers if she feels that the subject is inappropriate for discussion at her level. For the main subject on the agenda, on which objectives and arguments will have been included in the steering brief, the subject brief should need to be no more than a background brief. For other subjects, the individual briefs may need to contain objectives and arguments. There will also need to be separate briefs for the individual bilaterals. These should follow the format at Annex. Finally, I propose that we should take stock of these arrangements in about July to see whether they are in fact meeting the Prime Minister's needs. By then we shall have had the experience of two European Councils, the Economic Summit and various bilateral meetings to go on.

I am sending copies of this letter to Permanent Secretaries in charge of Departments.

Yours aver

Robert Annstuing