Reply to the 7th annual report of the European Free Trade Association
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 26th September 1967 (10th Sitting) (see Doc. 2270, report of the Economic Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26th September 1967 (10th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Thanks the European Free Trade Association for the transmission of its 7th annual report (
Doc. 2255) ;
2. Congratulates the Association on the effective completion on 31st December 1966 of the removal of tariff barriers and quotas on industrial goods originating and traded within the area of the Association ;
3. Believes that it is essential for the Association to continue to press ahead with tackling the various national technical and administrative regulations of whatever sort which act as non-tariff barriers to trade and which tend to frustrate the economic benefits to be expected from the abolition of tariffs and quotas ; and declares its conviction that the present moves for an enlargement of EEC can in no wise justify any hesitation on EFTA's part in actively seeking to eliminate such non-tariff barriers to trade ;
4. Warmly welcomes the comprehensive agreement reached by EFTA with a view to eliminating in the practices of public undertakings measures which would have the effect of affording a protection to domestic production which would be inconsistent with the Stockholm Convention if achieved by means of tariffs, quotas, or government aids ;
5. Considers that the decision of the EFTA Ministerial Council to undertake a general review of the provisions of the Stockholm Convention regarding agriculture, with a view to ensuring that reasonable reciprocity can continue to be provided for member States whose economies depend to a great extent on exports of agricultural goods, is most timely ;
6. Congratulates EFTA on the further progress it has made in informing the general public of its aims, objectives and activities ; but asks that a further examination should be made of the possibilities of publishing in an annex to the EFTA Bulletin or otherwise the actual texts of formal decisions taken by the EFTA Council, particularly where merchants and businessmen need to be informed of these in order to plan their activities ;
7. Reiterates its conviction that an authoritative study of the economic consequences of the existence of two trading groups in Europe is long overdue ; recalls the warm welcome it gave in
Resolution 324 of 1966 to the decision of the Ministerial Council of EFTA directing the EFTA Secretariat "to review and analyse the economic impact of the present divergence between the two trading groups in Europe, with its waste of existing and potential resources" and looks forward to the early publication of the report.
