Michael Brunson
Prime Minister, these rather serious Greek objections, it seems, to the regional spending in the Mediterranean, do they mean that Spain and Portugal's entry at the last minute, as it were, have been blocked?
Prime Minister
It is very difficult to discern exactly what has happened. The rest of the Community have agreed on provisions for wine and for fish, and all the things with which we can negotiate with Spain and Portugal, and industrial tariffs and so on. Now, Greece has put a reserve on those but, nevertheless, I think agrees that the negotiations with Spain and Portugal can go ahead subject to, before they are completed, it being referred back to the Council which, of course, includes Greece. So the rest of us are agreed on these very complicated things, but Greece has put a general reserve on them, but nevertheless, she is allowing further negotiations on enlargement to go ahead, but subject, of course, to a final reference back to the Council. [end p1]
Michael Brunson
But you were very much looking forward at this Council to a situation where we could move smoothly on to offering Spain and Portugal terms to come in. You said it would be a very very good end to the year. Not now such a good end to the year?
Prime Minister
No. It is not. It would have been fantastic if we had got everything agreed between us all and then we were in a position to say to Spain and Portugal: “These are the terms we have agreed!” and then to work them out finally with them. But, as far as the nine of us are concerned, that is so. Greece felt she could not agree because she wanted a lot more money spent on what are called “Integrated Mediterranean Programmes” and the size of the money really fair took the breath of some of us away, and we were not able to agree to what she wanted, although we agreed to what we thought was a reasonable sum for the first year, and also that the programme should endure for a further five or six years.
Michael Brunson
Is this a case of Greece being greedy?
Prime Minister
No. I think it is a case of Greece having had her expectations raised by figures which have been bandied about in the Commission, which were never agreed to by anyone else. [end p2]
Michael Brunson
Some people might be tempted to suggest, Prime Minister, that Greece is only using the tactics of getting the money she wants which you first employed five years ago here in Dublin to get the money you wanted.
Prime Minister
I think you will find it is very different. Greece is already a substantial beneficiary from belonging to the Community. I think she gets something like 1 billion ECU which after all is about £600 million a year subvention from the Community through various programmes. We, as you know, even now are net payers in. It is just that we are not paying in quite as much as we would otherwise have been. So it is really very very different.
Michael Brunson
You have had two meetings with Dr. FitzGerald while you are here, two brief ones. Is he less upset now than he apparently was after the Chequers Summit?
Prime Minister
I thought there was no need to be upset at all, because the Chequers Summit, as I said, was very realistic and really got down to some of the difficult things, instead of talking in generalities, and we made it quite clear that there was a lot of work to be done, but we were not pushing it away; we were actually going to agree that the talks continue and as an earnest of good faith made it quite clear that in the early months of the New Year we would meet again. [end p3]
Now, we are repeating that. I am very very sorry that somehow the thing got blown up. I do not know quite why, but these things happen now and then, but they must not affect the real issues.