E.E.C. crisis remains

Press, 15 June 1983, Page 6

E.E.C. crisis remains

NZPA Luxemburg Prospects for proposals to save the European Economic Community from a financial crisis dimmed yesterday after Foreign Ministers failed to resolve serious differences. The crisis has arisen from huge subsidies to farmers, expected to increase Community spending on agriculture 30 per cent this year. , The.lo Foreign Ministers met yesterday to prepare foKa three-day Community summit meeting which will open bit Friday at Stuttgart, West Germany.

Diplomats said that yesterday’s meeting had underlined a split between countries which benefit from the farm support system, such as Italy, Ireland, Belgium, Greece, and Denmark, and countries which pay more into the Community than they receive, such as West Germany and Britain. The summit meeting must decide whether to give more money to maintain farm subsidies or to insist on economies in agriculture first, diplomats said. l . Yesterday’s meeting was

called specifically to ease the way towards agreement at the summit conference. West Germany, the Community’s president, had proposed conditioning any increase in Community funds on agreement to cut farm spending, but had met a storm of protests from smaller States, diplomats said. The summit meeting would have to start virtually from scratch, as many of the proposals had been annotated with critical remarks, the diplomats said.