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Too Far Away, Too High and Too Stable: The EEC and Trade with Australia During the 1960s
Author(s) -
Ludlow N. Piers
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8446.00087
Subject(s) - commonwealth , veto , international trade , politics , political science , economics , political economy , international economics , law
The EEC of the 1960s had little reason to prioritize trade with Australia: trade flows were too small and political ties between Australia and continental Europe too weak. That trade with Australia did become an issue of concern is thus largely due to Britain’s 1961 EEC application. The shape of the deal that looked like emerging in 1961–3 was, however, highly ungenerous – a fact which reflected both the nature of Australian exports and a strong European belief that Australia was less ‘deserving’ than other Commonwealth countries. Australian relief at de Gaulle’s veto may, however, have been premature, since early British membership of the Community might well have been in Australia’s medium‐term commercial interest.