6 OCTOBER 1961, Page 4

Britain to Move

LAST week's meeting of the EEC Council, at which the British application to adhere to the Community was accepted `in principle,' was typical of the periodical bouts of negotiating, which are taking place in Brussels with increas- ing frequency. Ministers, despite their divergent views, took the essential minimum of decisions necessary to permit the next step forward: no gratuitous concessions were made, and no prob- lems settled. The Six mean business.

Dr. Erhard's letter to the British Government, as Chairman of the Council, shows that the Six have no illusions about Britain's European poli- cies. Before sitting down to negotiate they want unequivocal proof that British demands over agriculture, the Commonwealth and EFTA are not going to be—from the Common Market point of view—prohibitive. Mr. Heath is being asked to come to Paris not with a detailed `shopping list' of concessions and special arrangements, but with an outline of how he hopes to see these three problems solved. Having received it, the Six will go into a further huddle. Only if they are satisfied can negotiations begin, perhaps by mid-November.

To ensure that there shall be no misunder- standing about essentials, the Council made abso- lutely clear the views shared by all the Six on several points. `Adaptations' to the Rome Treaty must cover nothing more than the practical and institutional changes necessitated by the advent of a new member—an enlarged Committee, and another chair for the club-room; but no changes in the rules.

Secondly, the Council reminded the new appli- cant that membership of the atomic and coal-and- steel sections is a sine qua non for joining the Common Market: and this must be negotiated in parallel, not left to be settled in a rush at the end. But in Luxembourg, British membership of the Coal and Steel Community is not thought to present any major problems.

So now it is Britain's turn to move. On October 10 Mr. Heath and his team will have the delicate task of persuading the Six that their demands for special consideration will be reason- able—whilst at the same time leaving themselves the greatest possible margin for negotiation. If incentive were lacking, they need only recall that the Six, as their representative told a press con- ference after the Council meeting, are not going to wait for Britain : every month will see a fur- ther consolidation of the Common Market, every Council session a new set of decisions which Britain can neither influence nor delay until she is a member.