Obstacle to British entry

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32563, 24 March 1971, Page 21

Obstacle to British entry

(From MICHAEL ROBSON, N.Z.P.A. stag correspondent)

LONDON, March 23. Do the French really want the British as partners in the Common Market? Until a few weeks ago, the answer to such a question would have been an unqualified “Yes.” The events of the last few days, however, have led a number of people to reassess the situation, and the suggestion that France may have decided once again to say “non" is no longer being dismissed as a flight of fancy. The immediate cause of speculation about a French veto is the fact that last week at a meeting of permanent representatives of the Six, France asked that the question of sterling be discussed by the Council of Ministers on March 30. The sterling issue is a complicated one, but, basically, it comes down to a suspicion by the French of sterling’s

function as a reserve currency to the dollar, the ' French maintain that ster- ; ling balances should be reduced, preparatory to doing . away with them altogether as the enlarged Community moves to monetary and economic union. For their part, the British are prepared to discuss the role of sterling, but not negotiate on it There are many who say that if France succeeds in introducing sterling as a fourth major issue along with finance, New Zealand and Caribbean sugar, the negotiations are doomed. If the French attitude towards sterling is added to France’s actions at the recent Ministerial negotiating session in Brussels, the idea that Paris is out to block —at least for the time being—any forward movement, is considerably strengthened. The French always play their diplomatic cards close to their chests, but the othei five members of the Community are, in private, both frustratedaid bewildered by

their partner’s recalcitrance. There is no shortage of theories in London, or in Brussels for that matter, as to why the French wish to see Britain kept out of the Community. The most plausible is that the French fear that Britain, once inside, will try to take it over. Another theory is that France is also worried that French will be replaced as the first language of the Community. It is certain that the Germans, the Dutch and, of the applicant countries, Norway, Denmark, and the Irish Republic, would all prefer to use English. Resistance to N.Z. And, lastly, there is the question of New Zealand. As Reginald Dale, Brussels correspondent of the “Financial Times” said in an article yesterday, there are indications that the French regard New Zealand as “an obstinate sym. bol of the world-wide spread of Anglo-Saxonism which must be humbled as part of the price Britain pays to enter the Common Market” While grudgingly conceding that there must be some special arrangement for New Zealand’s dairy produce, the French have firmly resisted for any suggestion that this arrangement should extend beyond a five-year transitional period. The French Foreign Minister (Mr Maurice Schumann) speaking in Brussels last week, even went so far as to indicate that it would not hurt New Zealand to take a drop in its standard of living, to bring its farmers more in line with those of France

“How,” he asked, “can we explain to our farmers that

they will be kept off the British market for the benefit of a people who don’t even belong to the Community?”

Then there is the question of a sheepmeat regulation. Here, also, the French are pressing for rules which would exclude New Zealand lamb from the Continent, and, presumably, if Britain enters the E.E.C., from the United Kingdom as well. It is difficult to equate this with the often-expressed assurance from the French that the political will to have Britain join is present in generous quantities. New Zealand, therefore, has become something of a test case of the French attitude towards the negotiations in general.

Mr Rippon spelled out quite clearly in Brussels that the British public and the British Parliament, would not tolerate a “sell-out” of New Zealand, and that if the Six were interested in enlargement they had better come up with a fair and equitable special arrangement. The Community has until May 11 to decide whether it is interested in coming up with such an offer.