E.E.C. Talks Next Week

Press, Volume C, Issue 29635, 4 October 1961, Page 13

E.E.C. Talks Next Week

(N ZP.A.- Reuter—Copyright) NEW YORK, October 3. Britain last night formally accepted an invitation to begin negotiations next week for entry into the European Common Market, Reuter reported from Brussels. A letter from the Prime Minister (Mr Macmillan) said the Deputy Foreign Secretary (Mr Heath) would represent Britain at preliminary talks in Paris on October 10 and 11, on Britain’s application to join the six-nation market.

Neutral Austria has sent a Note to the Soviet Union saying Austria could not remain impassive toward “certain economic developments” in Europe. The Note was in reply to a Soviet request for clarification for “Austria’s decision to enter into negotiations ■with the Common Market." The reply said former Sov-iet-occupied Austria was interested in the best possible economic relations with all nations irrespective of their politics. Austria is a member of the rival trade bloc to the Common Market, the European Free Trade Association. A North American common market developed slowly over a period of some 50 years was suggested yesterday in Vancouver by the president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Mr Joseph Jeffery. Mr Jeffery, in a speech prepared for the chamber’s annual meeting, declared that Canada was in for a trade war “the like of which we have not seen in our lifetime," the Canadian Press reported. It was likely that Britain would enter the European Common Market, he said, and urged that Canada take early and very active steps to counteract the consequences. Mr Jeffery said: “The Canadian economy is gradually being hemmed in from three aides—from the Far East (the fastegrowing industrialised economies of Japan, China, Hong Kong and India have wage costs one-tenth of ours); from the south (the giant United States market is largely denied to our manufacturers by high tariff barriers); and from the west

(it is almost certain that for reasons of economic selfpreservation the United Kingdom must join the European Common Market).

“In other words, we face the imminent danger of relative economic isolation and the question is: what should we do about it?” Steps already had been taken to set up branches of Canadian industries in the United Kingdom and Europe, but this represented only a fraction of Canada’s export industry “and does not help us in Canada insofar as work for our workers is concerned.” he said.

The suggestion had been made, Mr Jeffrey said, —“for my money it is a very good one”—that Canada should study the implications of developing a North .American common market very slowly over the next half-century. “This raises the blood pressure of many at first but surely we could adjust ourselves over a period of time and no-one would be hurt too badly, and long-range plans could be developed on a sound economic basis,” he said. Mr Jeffery said an economic union would not mean, nor need mean, a political union. U.S. Benefit In New York, a top official of the United States Commerce Department said yesterday that it was probable the United States would benefit from Britain’s participation. But he also warned that an expanded Common Market would mean stiffer competition for American businesses. The official, Mr Edward Gudeman, the Under-Secre-tary of Commerce, was addressing a meeting of the American Management Association. Mr Gudeman noted that if Britain entered the Common Market, the effect upon United States trade would be “quite considerable.” since Britain took 7.4 per cent, of American exports annually and the Common Market countries 18 per cent

“In the long run, British entry in the Common Market should stimulate a faster rate of economic growth and United States exports as a whole should share in this larger European market. This will be a more likely result if the United States is in a position to negotiate with an enlarged Common Market for a low level in its common external tariff,” he said. “We also can expect some short-range benefits. As

soon as British membership is a certainty, both British and Common Market firms will have strong incentives to make their protected enterprises as competitive as possible. This should increase the European demand for all types of capital equipment, and the United States should benefit from this,” he said.