E.E.C. DEADLOCK ON FARM PAYMENTS

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32873, 23 March 1972, Page 13

E.E.C. DEADLOCK ON FARM PAYMENTS

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyrights BRUSSELS, March 22. Common Market Agriculture Ministers ended their second day of hard bargaining on E.E.C. farm reforms early today with the dispute. between France and West Germany on compensation payments to farmers as wide as ever.

But the session, which is due to resume later today for a third and hopefully conclusive round, was apparently marked by considerable progress in the projected reform of E.E.C. farm structures. The French Agriculture Vlinister (Mr Michel Cointat)

told reporters at the close of the meeting that he would be returning to Paris this mom-

ing to report to the regular Wednesday Cabinet session on the deadlock.

He said he would return to Brussels in the afternoon when the ministers would tackle the thorny issue of farm prices.

“I have never seen such difficult, delicate and long negotiations,” he said. He said that the German side had not changed its position at all on the border tax issue.

This was the problem which prompted West German farm minister (Mr Josef Ertl) to fly to Munich yesterday for urgent consultations with Chancellor Willy Brandt

The Germans want compensatory payments for their farmers to offset the upward valuation of the mark—so called border taxes—and the issue was apparently settled after last week’s long discussions bitween the ministers in Brussels.

But Mr Cointat made it clear yesterday that France was not satisfied with this arrangement and demanded that a time limit be set for the abolition of these payments.

When Mr Ertl returned from Munich late in the afternoon, he made it clear that Chancellor Brandt had backed; his position. And' when the Ministers went ■ back into private session; last night, he read out a strong statement from his Government on the problem, which informed sources said produced no comment from any of the other five ministers. This gave rise to hopes that the;French had dropped their demands for an immediate time limit to be set on the compensatory payments, but this was not borne out by Mr Cointat’s comments afterwards.