E.E.C. sets date for jobs scheme

Press, 10 April 1978, Page 8

E.E.C. sets date for jobs scheme

| NZPA-Reuter Copenhagen j Common Market leaders i have set themselves a 90- ; day deadline to work out a I Strategy to drag the Western 'world out of recession, cut ‘clown unemployment, and I curb trade protectionism. i ! They agreed on this ap-l proach at a two-day Euro- , pean Community summit meeting in Copenhagen with a clear realisation that the economic crisis facing the West was so great that they, must take a concerted stand or fall apart. The nine European Community leaders set themselves the target of a 4.5 per cent annual economic growth rate for the Common Market by July, next year. : This is the minimum they i can do to help fight the] awesome problem of unem-i ployment, now running at six million in a community I of more than 250 million: people, and particularly sev-1 ere among the young. France’s President (Mr I Valery Giscard d’Estaing) and the leaders of West Germany, Britain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, and Ireland outlined a five-point programme in preparation for a crucial summit meeting of seven leading industrial states in Bonn in midJuly, to be attended by President Carter of the United States. The other countries at the Bonn talks will be Japan, Canada, and the big four of the European Community — West Germany, France, Britain, and Italy. The Community leaders fixed the 90-day deadline so they could present a joint stand to the Bonn meeting, which will be held after the se- -nation summit in London in June. | The Common Market nine

agreed that the battle for economic recovery must be fought on five fronts: economic growth to pull the Western world out of recession, greater stability in Common Market currencies in the face of dollar upheavals, long-term capital movements including aid for less developed countries, oil and energy conservation, and more trade to prevent the spread of protectionism. i Common Market leaders I fear that the pressure on I them to put up trade bar- ' riers will intensify unless Japan soon begins to reduce ■its SUSS2OOM trading surplus with the Community. ! The Nine agreed that the i first direct elections to the 'European Parliament should ibe held in June, next year.

Sources say they jealously safeguarded their democratic institutions by adopting a declaration pledging themselves to uphold human rights. They did this in view of the applications for Common Market membership by Greece, Portugal, and Spain, which until recently had ' dictatorial governments. In the same spirit they took a hard line against terrorism, undertaking to protect the rights of individuals and the foundations of democratic institutions. The nine leaders called for urgent and intensified cooperation to protect their societies against terrorist violence in the wake of the kidnapping last month of the former Italian Prime Minister, Mr Aldo Moro.