The Council of Ministers, the key policy-making body of the European Economic Community, decided at the start of its regular meeting last night to prepare a final list of concessions on tariffs and quotas for Israel. The Council also ordered its Committee of Permanent Representatives to study the question of Israel-Euromart relations in greater depth and to present a new report at the Council’s next session early in March.
The Israeli issue was considered at a closed session dealing with prior negotiations between EEC and Israeli representatives on an agreement on treatment of Israel’s substantial exports to the six nations of the European Common Market. Two initial rounds of talks brought only an offer of minor concessions on relatively trivial Israeli exports. The offer was rejected.
The Council reportedly approved a compromise proposal on the difficult question of Israeli citrus sales to the Euromart countries. The compromise, offered by Italy, proposed creation of a special commission which would deal with marketing problems arising out of subsequent agreements between the EEC and other citrus producing countries.
The French delegation submitted another proposal which dealt with possible agreements with other major citrus-growing countries in the North Africa area, particularly Morocco, details of which were not disclosed.
(Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, arrived by air today in Holland for a week’s visit during which she will meet tomorrow with Dr. Joseph Luns, the Dutch Foreign Minister, concerning Israel’s desire for a trade agreement with the European Economic Community.)
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