British entry problem

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32461, 23 November 1970, Page 15

British entry problem

fN^.P.4.-Reu(er— Copyright? PARIS, Nov. 22. Britain would have to rely on her economic growth to resolve the prob- ■ lem of increased food prices and the cost Of participating in the EJE.C’s common agricultural fund if she entered the Common Market, the British Minister of Industry and Trade (Mr John Davies) told a Paris newspaper. Interviewed by “Nouvel Observateur,” Mr Davies said that such growth would be stimulated by Britain’s entry; Britain would finance her participation in the agricultural fund by increasing production, exports, and, therefore, global national resources. "The rise in the cost of living would be soaked up in the same way—by increasing national income,” Mr Davies Isaid.

Asked what role Britain could play in the technological field in the Common Market, Mr Davies said that the object was to find an answer to the American challenge. The recent financial setbacks recorded by RollsRoyce had shown that Britain could not face this challenge alone, and co-operation on a European scale was therefore necessary. Mr Davies said that it was a pity that such links as had been signed between the British and Italian tyre firms, Dunlop and Pirelli, had not materialised between Britain and France. Given the accelerated technological changes occuring in France and Britain, there were immense possibilities of exploiting many forms of collaboration which would be easier to find if Britain were a member of the E.E.C., he added.