Mrs. Thatcher
Mr. President, Dr. Mario SoaresPrime Minister, your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much, Mr. President, for that introduction, may I say how pleased I am to be with you today, delighted to be in Portugal, delighted to be in Lisbon, tomorrow I shall be in Oporto, they tell me there is a traditional rivalry between the two cities, so tomorrow I shall be delighted to be in Oporto. Now I propose to give a comparatively short speech, short that is for politicians, perhaps about 15 or 16 minutes, so that I can leave plenty of time for questions which I look forward to a great deal. At a splendid banquet given for me by the Portuguese government in Sintra last night, I spoke about the ancient alliance between our two countries and the joint tasks which lie ahead of us. Our alliance is entering a period of new challenge and opportunity, for Portugal will soon enter the European Community and I am firmly convinced that membership will bring benefits not only to Portugal, but to Europe as a whole. The population of the European Community is already bigger than that of the United States and Canada combined, I mention that fact because it is not always appreciated. The population of the present Community is 271 million, the population of the United States and Canada combined is 257 million. The accession of Portugal and Spain will bring the European figure to 319 million people, ladies and gentlemen, that is the largest area of democracy in the world and it will be further expanded thus strengthening the roots of democracy in the individual member states and strengthening the Community as a force for democracy across the globe.
You may think it strange that I put the politics of it first, I do so because I think it is vital both for our human dignity as well as for our prosperity that we strengthen democracy in our individual countries, we strengthen it in Europe and across the Atlantic, thus giving other countries greater hope across the world, so that they may too enjoy its great benefits. It also of course is a fact that democracy does bring greater prosperity because you will find where there is prosperity you will find a free society and economic freedom. Portugal will bring to Europe its special historical experience, its special knowledge of the world. This country was a great pioneer of European overseas discoveries and expansion, that age has passed but your experience of parts of Africa and South America is still unrivalled in Europe and more of the world's people speak Portuguese than either French or German. You and we will wish to draw on our overseas experience to keep the Community outward looking, to make it a stronger force for good in the world. I stress particularly the outward looking part, there is a tendency sometimes for the Community to get protectionist and inward looking, that was not the purpose of its creation and it must not be its practice. Now the population figures I've given you for the future European Community tell us something else which everyone else at this luncheon will have noticed long ago. That Portugal will be entering the largest market and the largest trading unit in the world. Now trade is influence but trade is also a responsibility, the Community was never meant to be a protectionist area, it was to seek to reduce the barriers to trade and I want it to be and I hope Portugal will help make it be, a force for freer trade the world over. Peoples like ours, whose whole history has been built on enterprise, creativity and adventure, can't be content with a world where there are so many forces at work to constrain those qualities. [end p1]
On my overseas visits I always try to meet as many as possible of the businessmen who trade with Britain, my aim like yours is to promote trade between Britain and Portugal, I am of course particularly interested in increasing British exports to Portugal and if there are any businessmen here from Britain and there are quite a number, let me say this to you, you haven't been doing well enough in Portugal and I want you to do better. I tell you I never mince my words. I'm known for that.
Trade between us began at least 630 years ago and the merchants of Lisbon and Oporto signed a treaty with King Edward the third of England and by the beginning of the 20th century, the United Kingdom was taking an astonishing three-quarters of Portuguese goods, in the cut throat world of 20th century trade that couldn't last. Nor I suspect would it be right today for one country so to dominate another's trade, but Britain still remains Portugal's chief export market, taking half a billion pounds worth of Portuguese goods in 1983, even if income from the tourist trade is excluded, it leaves a balance of trade in Portugal's favour. I believe that British exporters can and will bridge the gap. I said that trade between Britain and Portugal had a remarkable history, I believe it also has a flourishing future. The British share of Portuguese markets has declined on recent years and I hope that decline is about to stop. British industry is emerging from the world recession with much more efficient and productive capacity than ever before. I hope and believe that the financial regime that I have adopted as the government of Britain has helped them in making those great achievements. I know you have problems in Portugal, I took it that the task of government in order to assist industry and a rising standard of living, the task of my government was so to pursue financial policies that we got inflation down and then kept it down. Today it is 5%;, and that is too high, you will be saying the same thing. Dr. Soares, in just a short time … (applause) … . 5%; is too high, it will come down further this year. I also took the view that just as companies whose businesses have to live within a strict budget, so do countries. There are many countries with deficit problems, fortunately Britain is not one of them and so having run our own financial affairs in a sound way I believe we have helped industry, to run its own future better, we've also set out to encourage enterprise and to encourage profitability, because profitability is the key to the future of sound industry.
Well, now, after all that let me tell you that it does help because our exports in February, the world over, were at a record level, and I give you fair warning, the new Portugal, as a full member of the European Community, will be Prime target for British industry and no doubt Britain will be an even more tempting target for your exporters. We're already beginning, let me give you some examples. Last month a team from the British nuclear industry, led by a British Minister, was here to show you what they can do. We were the first country in the world to build a nuclear power station and our expertise in this field is second to none. We want to share that expertise with a new generation of Portuguese engineers and I am pleased that a group of them will [end p2] soon be visiting Britain, a number of British firms are investing in Portugal's future, not enough firms and not enough money but it's starting. Tate and Lyle are now actively involved in the Portuguese sugar industry and a major pharmaceutical company, and I might say that chemicals and pharmaceuticals are one of our super successful industries, a major pharmaceutical company, Beechams, has made another significant investment. Bradbury Wilkinson, who are one of the two traditional suppliers of bank notes to Portugal, the new ones that are going to keep their value, are keen to join the bank of Portugal in bank note printing here in Lisbon. The British computer firm, ICL is bidding for a contract to computerise your tax system, British firms are bidding with their Portuguese—isn't that all right? You think it might make the tax system more efficient and that might—oh dear! well, you know if everyone pays their tax on time taxes can be lower, so that's a very good thing to have an efficient computer system and British firms are bidding with their Portuguese partners for a contract to construct a new sewerage system for Lisbon. Now what is impressive about those examples is their range. Our traditional trading links with Portugal have been in industries like textiles, chemicals, tourism and of course port wine. That trade will continue and I hope expand, but major opportunities will come from the industries of the future we call them the ‘sunrise industries’ such as electronics but they're not only sunrise industries, the expertise that they can have can bring great modernisation to the old industries and revivify them and bring their costs down and so revive them and provide good jobs and a good profitable future for those who work in them. Now in those industries the electronics industries, Britain leads Europe and in some cases the world.
Just before lunch the Prime Minister and I were watching some children working computers. They knew far more about them than we did, or knew far more about them than I did, maybe dr. Soares knew everything about them but they were marvellous. We have taken the decision to get computers in every school, not only secondary schools, but primary schools, and I was very happy to present to dr. Soares a lot of Sinclair computers for use in Portuguese schools. It is an area which has been pioneered by British technologists and I hope that as Portugal adapts to the information technology revolution you'll look to British professionalism in the future as you have in the past.
The same applies to the vital area of finance. Portugal has long established relations with the city of London and British banks, insurance companies and specialist services have had representatives here for many years and I understand that there are currently three lines of credit available to Portugal from British banks. The city of London is the greatest centre of financial expertise in the world and I hope you'll continue to draw upon it and as Portugal begins to open up the banking sector I hope there will be room for another British bank. There are already three and soon to be four Portuguese banks in London and we welcome them. Relations between our countries will change when Portugal becomes a member of the Community. I believe they will grow stronger, I believe that trade between our countries will expand and with it our relationship will grow firmer. Your chamber is a vital element in the friendship between Britain and Portugual. As your successful trade mission to London only a few days ago showed. So there is an exciting future, an exciting future because you're putting your finances in order. An exciting future because you're joining the Community, an exciting future because we're determined to expand world trade and not see it diminish. Yes, there will be many difficulties but the essence of both politics and business is not to be overcome with the difficulties but to accept them as a challenge which we in turn can overcome. I'm sure you will tackle it in that way. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you a profitable year and a flourishing future. [end p3]
Chairman
We are now therefore ready for the first question.
Mrs. Thatcher
Oh come along, someone over there. There's always a horrible hush at this stage. The rest of you can be thinking of your questions while this gentleman's asking one. I'll keep going on the answer until there's some more hands up.
Inaudible question
Mrs. Thatcher
Oh, the same as anyone else, whether you're a population of eight million or a very much larger number, the point of joining the EEC is it does give you an access to a very much larger market and it gives you the possibility of negotiating in trading matters with other countries in the world as part of the largest block of world trade. But that doesn't obviate the need for efficient production, good design, value for money and delivery on time. That is the only way I know … (applause) … . now were there more questions or do you want me to keep going?
Chairman
The next question—yes, sir.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
What are you going to say when Helmut Kohlthe German Prime Minister comes? (applause) thank you very much—I'll keep your secret.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
Yes. (laughter and applause) it sounds a great answer, I don't really need to add to it. No, I do not regard it as if, I do regard it as when, I think all members of the EEC are determined to have Portugal and spain in by 1st of January 1986 we want the negotiations complete by September, we've got one or two internal problems to sort out, it's not my fault that they're not sorted out … (laughter) … and I hope we'll soon get them sorted out and I don't know whether we have any Frenchmen here but I must say that the President of the Community, President Mitterrand, has been very helpful in trying to get them sorted out … (laughter) I thank you.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
After you've joined there will be a considerable transition period on textiles, for reasons which you know well. We in the United Kingdom take 50%; of Portugal's exports to the European Community, now that's not a bad record, we take 50%;. We also have great problems with our own textile industry and through the Community we still negotiate quotas on textiles with the main textile exporting countries especially in the far East. Those quotas on that arrangement will have to continue. We've lost something like a quarter of a million jobs in textiles, as so much of the produce has been produced in the far East and many of the developing countries, one of the first things they can make, as you know, is textiles and therefore it hits the traditional textile producing countries very hard and we have to go for the higher type textiles or for the better design. Now if we take 50%; of your textile export at the moment, textile exports to Europe, I think you're arranging something like a seven year transition for the textile position to be resolved, after that we are quite free in the Community from one country to another on textiles. [end p4]
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thather
Well we have to negotiate through the multi-fibre agreement, as you know, it's comparatively recently been renegotiated, that too tends to run for seven years, we negotiated as a Community, then within that amount we negotiated our own textile quotas. I'm sure you'll find it all right when you get in.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
Well, we allocated about 18 months ago, a sum of £45 million to enable more overseas students to come to Britain at a much lower fee than the full fee we would normally have—I understand that there aren't perhaps sufficient from Portugal coming and I will look into that when I get home. We did, as you know, have a rather free system of training and University and Polytechnic and Technical education, indeed I know when I was Secretary of State for education I eventually found that 21%; of our students were overseas students and frankly that was really too much, too big a proportion for us to take, a rather highly subsidised education, so we did cut it down a bit and then because we weren't getting quite enough we added back this sum to enable more to come but I will have a look at the situation with regard to Portugal when I get back. I must say that having had practically an open door to overseas students for many many years, the theory which you've just expounded did not necessarily work. It's the one that you've expounded to me now, it may be we didn't give enough priority to the technical education and we took in a lot of people over that period for the inevitable arts degrees which so many of them wanted to follow and we are now shifting our ground to taking in more students for technical education and therefore your thesis may work.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
Well it's being considered now—there's a great demand actually from those who work in the Community, particularly those who work for Great Britain or the United Kingdom in the Community that they should have the right to vote and then there arose a demand as to whether it could go further and we are having a look at that. You've got to have a look at the time factor because mercifully for everyone our elections are comparatively short—one month—and the nominations are not until about day ten and so then the ballot papers have to be printed, then they have to be sent out to the voter: they have to be filled in and returned in time, so all that has to be done within a fortnight, so there's no point in giving a right unless it can in fact be achieved within that time.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
I think that the negotiations with the EEC would overtake that because we have a well known programme for the equivalence of qualification in the EEC, it's a question of deciding exactly what qualifications are equivalent to which others because they then have to be accepted for the purpose throughout the Community so I imagine that that is being taken care of in the transitional negotiations. [end p5]
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
I'm not quite sure what question you're asking me, it strictly depends on whether I am aware of the activities of international schools, I am, and our people overseas have every need to be grateful for them. I also … . are you asking me anything else?
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
I think you're in touch with our embassy are you not—ambassador, yes, I think surely there is contact? You're not asking for subsidies are you? But you're very well known to our embassy and therefore your activities must be known to those who come here but just have a word with the ambassador—with me afterwards and we'll just see what it is precisely you're trying to get at. Now we know it's not finance we can relax.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
Oh I can always justify an increase in excise duty, usually to get revenue, I'm afraid, and it's a very very good reason. But I must say I think your sales are still doing quite well.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
Oh come off it—ten pence a bottle isn't much on port.
Question inaudible
Mrs. Thatcher
Well I think there are some questions which are best left unasked and if asked, best left unanswered. As you know we hope that spain will be in the Community and before she comes in the Community of course the border between Gibraltar and Spain would have to be lifted otherwise Gibraltar is governed by the Treaty of Utrecht, I need hardly enlarge upon the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, I'm sure they're familiar to them, they are the treaty under which Britain governs Gibraltar, we have a law, an Act of Parliament. Which says that the status of Gibraltar cannot be changed and will not be changed except with the consent and wishes of the Gibraltarians. That stands. Thank you very much