TNAG-1880-FCO40-2671-Student-demonstrations-and-internal-political-situation-in-C-1989 — Page 34

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European market to the closed Japanese market (para III 3).

The Netherlands and the UK detected a note of reciprocity in

para III 6 of the recommendations and the UK and the Commission

stressed that the GSP was not negotiable as para 5.2 of the

recommendations seemed to suggest. Spain, Italy and to a lesser

extent France remained concerned that the paper did not adequately

address the different interests of the EC countries. The UK

questioned the general theme of needing to integrate the Asian NIES

into the international trading system: they already were. It was

difficult to make general recommendations for so disparate a set of

countries, who have no common grouping and the references to Hong

Kong, although better, were still inaccurate. The paper raised

detailed questions (eg GSP) beyond the ken of the Group. The

Presidency endorsed this last point and the FRG then suggested the

paper be sent to the Political Committee as a national paper, which

incorporated some of the suggestions of the other members of the

Policy Planning Group. After some tooth sucking (by the Greeks)

this proposal was agreed. (Final version of the paper attached.)

Europe and the Integration Progress in the Maghreb

4. Spain circulated an only slightly revised version of the paper

distributed on 26 April. A number of delegations repeated their

concern that the EC should not rush into developing links with a

very new and untried organisation and particularly one which

contained a notoriously unreliable partner: Libya. Italy and France

thought it inappropriate to devote too much comment to the internal

affairs of the Maghreb countries, particularly with regard to the

spread of fundamentalism. The Commission made a few points of

detail. Spain agreed to circulate a further revised draft before

the next meeting of the Group.

European Architecture

5.

France circulated a paper on points for discussion in the

working group with a view to drafting a short paper to provoke

discussion in the Political Committee.

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