CONFIDENTIAL
163147
MDHIA 1658
AND BN (0)S (FRANCE, GERMANY, PORTUGAL AND SPAIN). WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO NOTE GERMANY'S NEGATIVE RESPONSE TO THE SPANISH SUGGESTION TO IMPOSE A VISA REGIME ON HONG KONG REPORTED IN FIRST TUR.
Now defened SOON
4. IF YOU AGREE, IT WOULD SEEM SENSIBLE TO BEGIN THE EXERCISE AS
SOON AS POSSIBLE, AS WE UNDERSTAND THE COMMON VISA REGIME IS
to 1 Feb 7 SCHEDULED TO COME INTO PLACE ON 1 DECEMBER. IN PARALLEL WITH
at earhist.
LOBBYING IN SCHENGEN CAPITALS, WE WOULD OF COURSE TAKE ACTION WITH THE SCHENGEN CONSULS GENERAL HERE.
5. THE ARGUMENTS WE WOULD DEPLOY IN SUCH AN EXERCISE ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME AS THOSE WE HAVE BEEN USING WITH THE SPANISH. IN PARTICULAR, WE WOULD CONTINUE TO EMPHASIZE THE POINTS IN YOUR TELNO 196 COVERING THE GOOD RECORD OF HONG KONG BDTCS AND BNCO)S AND OUR EXCELLENT IMMIGRATION CONTROLS. WE ARE ALSO FAXING TO YOU SOME HONG KONG TRADE FIGURES WITH SCHENGEN STATES WHICH YOU MAY FIND USEFUL.
6. WE ARE ALSO CONSIDERING OUR FALLBACK POSITION IF WE FAIL IN THE LOBBYING. THE INTERESTS OF BDTCS AND BN (0)S WHO VISIT A NUMBER OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AT A TIME AND WHO TRAVEL TO ONE COUNTRY IN ONE TRIP ARE DIFFERENT, AND THERE ARE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES IN EITHER BEING INCLUDED IN THE COMMON VISA LIST OR PRESERVING THE STATUS QUO. WE WILL REPORT OUR DELIBERATIONS TO YOU SEPARATELY.
PATTEN
YYYY
ΜΑΙΝ
47
HKD
SED
WED
ECD (I)
NEWS D
RAD
NTCD
MVD
ADDITIONAL
2
DISTRIBUTION
49
LEGAL ADVISERS PS/MR GOODLAD
SIR J COLES
MR HUM
MR ALSTON
MR GREENSTOCK
MR JAY
HOMOFF //MR RAWSTHORNE
PAGE
2
CONFIDENTIAL
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HOMOFF//PALLETT B6 DIV
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