Interviewer
Prime Minister, are you prepared to move Britain's position in order to secure an agreement on the Common Fisheries Policy for Europe?
PM
All we are prepared to do is to take up where we left off in December. We very nearly secured an agreement. Had we gone on with the goodwill of each and every Government I think we would have reached it by the turn of the year. All of a sudden those negotiations were broken off. It was a great tragedy. We agreed on quotas. The problem now is to how to allow every country to fish up to the quotas which we have agreed.
Interviewer
If that means, though, letting France have greater access to British waters in order to establish her quota, does that not mean a radical shift of Britain's position?
PM
No, we have agreed the quotas and we have carried our own fishing industry with us the whole time and we must continue to do that. Really you cannot have Heads of Government doing the detailed negotiations. Any detailed negotiations must be done by Fisheries Ministers, one with another. But in fact we have agreed the main thing which is the quotas.
Interviewer
Did it upset you that you came under such intense pressure to move your position from France and from Germany?
PM
Well, I am used to being under pressure in the European Economic Community. We were when we renegotiated the Budget. And I don't give in to it because in the end the thing I have always to bear in mind is getting Britain a fair deal from the Community. And that applies very much to our fishermen. They put their trust in us.
Interviewer
It was another Summit marked by the disagreement inside Europe and not the common cause inside Europe. In the context of international affairs, does that not give you cause to worry about the image Europe projects to the rest of the world? [end p1]
PM
No. There was disagreement on two matters—on fish because they wanted me to go ahead with agreements between Canada and the Economic Community which would be to Germany's advantage and to our disadvantage and also the agreement with the Faroes and the Community in the absence of a Common Fisheries Policy. And I would not agree. That was the only disagreement we had. There is tremendous agreement on the difficulties of economic policy. On the need to do more about unemployment. On the need to have more productive investment. There was agreement on how to help Poland. On still condemning the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. I think you have selected the one area of disagreement. But even that finished up with—right let's advance the date of the Fisheries Council to come to an agreement which has so far eluded us.
Interviewer
If I could ask you about one of the topics you have just mentioned. Unemployment. Obviously one of the most pressing problems facing Europe at the moment. Is there any hope that the Community will get together and form a common attack on this problem?
PM
Well we all suffer from it, as you know. Some Community countries are even worse. We are all anxious to do something about it. It is easier to talk about it than to find policies that will solve it in the longer run. Certainly we have to use social and economic fund particularly to help those areas which suffer from having to reduce the older industries, the shipbuilding and some of the steel. As you know, we are already doing that. We really have to try to arrange investment in future industries where there are future jobs. There is a classic way of doing that by cutting down existing consumption. It is easier said than done but that is what you have to do in the end if you are to make room for really productive investment in the new technological industries of the future.
Interviewer
But is unemployment a problem which can be solved at a European level or is it something that must be done at national level? [end p2]
PM
I think both. You try to get some help from the Community because you are concerting certain things for example on steel it wouldn't be right for one or two countries to try to reduce their capacity and others not to do so. That would mean that when an expansion came they would get more business and we had forgone some of the business. So we have to have concerted action on some of the things. The Economic and Social Fund should rightly help all areas in the Community that are in a particularly bad way. All areas in the Community, and that is common. Then there are some things you can only do nationally. We have programmes for opportunities for young people. We have training programmes. We make certain investment decisions. We each do our Budgets. Those have to be done nationally, those things.
Interviewer
On the question of Poland, how much agreement was there on future aid?
PM
No specific sums. We are all anxious to everything we can to help. We have helped in the past with food supplies and also with rescheduling and refinancing their debts and we agreed to continue to do so in the future and we will meet to see if we can help without further delay.
Interviewer
What did you say to the Irish Prime Minister, Mr. Haughey, concerning remarks made by his Foreign Minister in an interview that British and Irish joint initiatives are aimed at ultimate unification of Ulster with Southern Ireland?
PM
Charles HaugheyHe knew that I was very, very distressed indeed about that interview. It was wholly different from everything which we agreed in our previous communique which does not refer to constitutional changes. Indeed, the talks are between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland and nothing but nothing can change the constitutional position of Northern Ireland except the people of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom Parliament. And we issued a statement to make that very clear. [end p3]
Interviewer
Was it an acrimonous exchange between you?
PM
No it was firm but not an acrimonous exchange. It really doesn't help anyone to be acrimonous.