The Council of Ministers of the European Common Market decided today to open negotiations soon for an agreement to provide some kind of trade link for Israel with the six member nations.
The Council made the decision after examining a report on the problem prepared by a technical committee which met last week at the EEC headquarters here. The decision was regarded as unprecedented, the first time that the Common Market will consider a commercial agreement with a country since the formation of Euromart.
The decision was believed to be in effect an act of political concern by the six Euromart members who took into account the fact that Israel is politically and economically isolated in the Arab world, that Israel has its export ties essentially with the six nations and that without some kind of commercial link, Israel would run the risk of economical suffocation.
It was also decided that the issue of tariffs in respect to Israeli products would be dealt with by the EEC Permanent Commission and that the member countries would deal individually with the problems of a commercial agreement with Israel.
(It was learned in Paris that the French delegation to Euromart will press the other five delegations to help protect Israel from the severe economic crisis looming from European economic integration. The French stand will be supported by the West German delegation, it was reported in Paris.)
Meanwhile Ambassador Amiel Najar presented today in Luxembourg his credentials as head of the new Israeli mission accredited to the European Economic Community. He presented his credentials to Piero Malvestiti, head of the High Authority on Coal and Steel, who tendered the Ambassador a luncheon after the presentation.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
