E.E.C. entry plan ‘not acceptable’

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32462, 24 November 1970, Page 16

E.E.C. entry plan ‘not acceptable’

(N.Z.P.A. Staff Correspondent) BRUSSELS, November 23. The E.E.G. Commission’s recommendations on the solutions of New Zealand’s problems if Britain entered the Common Market were not acceptable, New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Marshall) said today.

Asked whether the proposals met with his approval, Mr Marshall said: “Certainly not. And you can underline that.” The Deputy Prime Minister said, however that the paper was still unofficial and was still not a Commission document as far as he was concerned. The points about the unofficial version which met' with his disaproval mainly'

concerned cheese and butter quantities. "We do not want to deal in quantities of butter and cheese,” he said. “We want the British idea of a milk equivalent which will give us the flexibility we need. “Our problem is to keep exporting products from our milk production.” The E.E.C. paper, completed in Strasbourg last week, suggested that during a five-year transition period for British entry New Zealand exports of butter to the

E.E.C. should not be diminished by more than 50 per cent of the present exports to the United Kingdom. The paper says there should be no quantity guarantee on cheese after the fiveyear term ends. Questioned on whether New Zealand would accept a guarantee of receipts over quantity, Mr Marshall said this was not an arrangement which would be satisfactory to New Zealand. “We have taken the initiative in G.A.T.T. and used patience and persistence to get an agreement on skimmed milk,” he said. “We are trying to get the same thing for butter oil. “However, the chances of getting an international agreement are remote,” he said, "especially in the next five years.” Mr Marshall said he had met privately in London with Mr Geoffrey Rippon, the British Minister for Europe, on Saturday night. "We had a useful discussion after an informal dinner,” Mr Marshall said.

The Deputy Prime Minister will meet today with Dr Sicco Mansholt, the E.E.C. Commissioner in charge of agriculture, and Mr JeanFrancois Deniau, the Commissioner in charge of E.E.C. entry negotiations.

He also has an appointment with Mr Walter Scheel, the West German Foreign Minister. The opportunity to see Mr Scheel in Brussels was taken because the German Minister will not be in Bonn when Mr Marshall visits the German capital later this week.