Reply to the 11th annual report of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 4 October 1971 (8th Sitting) (see Doc. 2999see Doc. 2999, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development). Text adopted by the Assembly on 4 October 1971 (8th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Thanks the Council of EFTA for the transmission of the 11th annual report of the Association ;
2. Reiterates its firm conviction that, in the context of the enlargement of the European Communities, solutions must be found to avoid the re-erection of tariff barriers to intra-European trade where these have once been abolished ;
3. Notes with satisfaction that the Communities and all EFTA countries are now negotiating with this objective in view ;
4. Underlines in this context the importance for practical reasons, and in the interests of all the countries concerned, of the accession of new Members to the Communities, and of the arrangements between the Communities, and the other EFTA countries, entering into force at the same time ;
5. Believes that sight must not be lost in an enlarged European Community of those cases where EFTA solutions have proved their real value - it is not given to any one person or body to have the exclusive monopoly of wisdom in the task of constructing Europe ;
6. Underlines its concern that the need to ensure adequate protection of consumers, whether from the point of view of safety or from that of semi-fraudulent commercial practices, should not be underestimated in the legitimate desire (and indeed necessity) to obviate obstacles to trade ;
7. Congratulates the Association on the contribution that its Economic Development Committee has made to the study of important aspects of how to ensure the development of less favoured regions in Europe ; and would hope that this work, which is of the greatest value to Western Europe as a whole, will continue irrespective of the particular arrangements which may be called for in the context of creating a wider Europe.
