E.E.C. plans to open office in Canberra

Press, 28 May 1979, Page 4

E.E.C. plans to open office in Canberra

( NZPA Brussels The European Economic I Community is about to ! begin a diplomatic j campaign to boost its ■j sagging image in New I Zealand and Australia. Concerned about its ( reputation in the Southern ! Hemisphere as the villian i of international trade, the

nine-nation Community plans to increase its overseas representation and open an office in. Canberra. Highly-placed E.E.C. sources outlined the plans in a special briefing for NZPA. They said the E.E.C. Commission, the Common Market’s

bureaucracy, would > formally propose to the decision-making Council of Ministers that a Canberra office be opened. The council's approval is regarded as a formality. The sources said- the post would be < at ambassadorial level and would probably include at least three other officials of diplomatic status. The Australian Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) had suggested some time ago that the E.E.C. should be represented diplomatically in Australia. Although the mission will be in Canberra, a big part of its function will be directed at New Zealand’s specific interests in the community. “Both Australia and New Zealand should be better informed about the E.E.C. and what it does, and that is one of the primary functions of the mission,’’ the sources said. “There are important E.E.C. questions in both countries and the commission’s view is that the Community would be far better represented with a man on the spot.” The E.E.C. has diplomatic posts throughout the world, but the closest to New Zealand and Australia ; now are Bangkok and i Tokyo.

A 1 o n g-t e r m Commission plan is also to open a European communities information office in New Zealand. The E.E.C.’s External Relations (Foreign Affairs) Commissioner, (Mr Wilhelm Haferkamp), the sources say, may formally open the Canberra office in September next year, taking advantage of a long-standing invitation to visit both New Zealand and Australia.