asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications whether the Government support the conclusion of the communication of the EEC Commission to the Council on Community policy on data processing that it is important that new data communication networks develop as European systems and do not engender new technical divergencies harmful to the user ; and whether he will make a statement.

It is desirable that data communication networks should be compatible not only on a European but on a world-wide scale. A CEPT—Conference of European Postal and Telecommunication Administrations—working group has a study on this objective in hand. I would not wish to come to any conclusions about a procedure for joint projects as suggested by the EEC Commission before definite proposals are made.