E.E.C. group to visit N.Z., Aust.

Press, 17 April 1980, Page 2

E.E.C. group to visit N.Z., Aust.

NZPA Brussels] -The European Economic, Community’s first high-level mission to Australia and New Zealand will leave today to seek “quiet solutions” to its problems with Canberra and Wellington. -“We don’t want to make a screaming fuss,” said one mission member yesterday. “We want to seek reasonable solutions.” ,-In the long term, the visit as a forerunner to annual Ministerial exchanges with the E.E.C.

■(There are unlikely to be any formal discussions on the ‘overriding world problems of Afghanistan. Iran And the Olympic Games, though mission members say 1 there are bound to be offn the-record talks.

('Explaining the timing of t£e mission, officials in Brussels said there had been rrfany Australian and New Zealand Ministerial visits to Brussels and it was felt the tffne was right for an exchange in Canberra and Wellington. ■"The E.E.C. mission is headed by the vice-president of the European Commission (Mr Wilhelm . Haferkamp), who is one of the Ibngestsfrving members and a close political associate of the for-

Inter West German leader, iMr Willy Brandt.

The commission is the policy-planning body that initiates community action, and is the chief mediator between governments. Mr Haferkamp’s deputy on the mission will be the commission’s director-general (Sir Roy Denman). The party will arrive in Canberra on Saturday and on Monday will begin three days of talks with senior Government officials and Ministerial heads, including the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser). The Australian visit will end on April 24 when the mission will leave for Wellington to begin a similar round of talks with the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) and the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Taiboys) who has been most concerned with E.E.C. affairs.

Other major figures in the mission are Mr Paul Luyten, the E.E.C.’s former chief representative in Geneva, and its expert on G.A.T.T., who is now director-general of external relations. In the external relations field also is Mr Michael Hardy, head of the division of the directorate-general which deals with the affairs of Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.