Extract from the minutes of a meeting of the Cabinet
'European Free Trade Area'
(G.C. 7/183) (Item 3) (S15281D)

Following consideration of a memorandum dated the 5th February, 1957,¹ submitted by the Taoiseach with the Interim Report of the Committee of Secretaries of certain Departments on the probable effects on Ireland’s interests of an association between the proposed Customs and Economic Union and other member countries of the Organization for European Economic Co-operation, a memorandum dated the 5th February, 1957,² submitted by the Minister for Finance and a memorandum dated the 7th February, 1957, submitted by the Minister for External Affairs,³ it was decided

1. to approve the recommendations of the Committee contained in their Interim Report and summarized in paragraph 4 of the memorandum submitted by the Taoiseach; and
2. to approve the proposal that Ireland’s representative at the meeting of the Council of the Organization on the 12th February, 1957, should make a statement on the following general lines:-

   ‘In accordance with her general attitude to movements by European countries towards closer economic association, Ireland welcomes the proposal to form a European Free Trade Area. While her attitude to the question of participating in the Area will, as in the case of other countries, be determined in the light of considerations of her own national interests, Ireland views with sympathy this latest movement towards closer association among European countries and wishes the proposal every success’,

   subject to the inclusion in the statement of an intimation to the effect that the aim should be to establish conditions which would enable every member country of the Organization to enter the proposed Free Trade Area without fear of serious damage to its economic fabric.