European Communities1

On October 17, 1960, the European Parliamentary Assembly, after a debate on trade policy and economic cooperation with third countries, adopted a draft resolution covering such topics as the coordination of trade policies, relations between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and policies toward developing countries. In its resolution the Assembly called for an intensification of consultations between member states and the EEC Commission, with a view to increasing participation by the Commission in bilateral negotiations between member states of the Assembly and third countries. With regard to relations between EEC and EFTA, it suggested that the possibility of the EFTA ountries' ultimately joining EEC be examined in the light of the Rome Treaty and the Stockholm Convention, and, with regard to policies toward the developing countries, it proposed the following steps: 1) stabilizing prices of, and reducing import taxes on, raw materials; 2) enlarging quotas for imports from developing countries; and 3) improving export credit terms, as well as increasing financial aid, to enable such countries to pay for imports essential to their development.