British-French Accord On Future Of Canal

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28223, 11 March 1957, Page 9

British-French Accord On Future Of Canal

(Rec. 11 p.m.) PARIS, March 9. The British and French Prime Ministers. Mr Harold Macmillan and Mr Guy Mollet, are agreed on all matters they discussed ’today. Mr Macmillan announced this tonight after day-long talks. Asked if this applied to the Suez situation. Mr Macmillan said: “We are agreed above all on this question.” The French Foreign Minister. Mr Christian Pineau, said: “Most certainly we are in complete agreement about Suez.” The communique issued said: “The Ministers are agreed that the conditions under which shipping began to use the Suez Canal again would be of great importance for the future of the canal, and confirmed their identity of views on this subject.” It said the Ministers exchanged views on British proposals for the reorganisation and redeployment of British forces in Germany. The Ministers agreed to combine their efforts to produce concrete results in research developments and armaments production.

The communique said the Ministers had decided experts should give further detailed study to problems of the European free trade area, and the decision of the six-nation customs union to include overseas territories. They recognised that the objective of both the customs and free trade area was the expansion of world trade, not the creation of protective grouping, the communique said. The talks are the first meeting of British and French Prime Ministers since Sir Anthony Eden went to Paris in October last year. Lady Macmillan accompanied her husband to Paris.