A Stab in the Back? The British Government, the Paper Industry and the Nordic Threat, 1956–72

Abstract

The British paper and board industry opposed plans to establish the Western European free trade area and the more modest EFTA, arguing that British producers would be unable to compete successfully against their Nordic rivals. The paper industry did support British entry to the EEC, but only because this was considered to be a less bad option than continued membership of EFTA. It is argued that while the British government could not fundamentally change its European policy solely because it harmed the interests of one particular industry, pressure from business and fears that increased competition would lead to increased unemployment gradually persuaded it to find ways to reduce competition. However, this policy probably encouraged many companies to delay efforts to modernise production.

Keywords:

• EFTA
• Paper Industry
• European Integration
• Interest Groups
• Business-Government Relations

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor Markku Kuisma and Dr Peter Howlett for their support and encouragement.

Notes

  [1] National Archives, London [henceforward NA]. BT258/94. ‘Brief for the Minister of State's lunch with Mr. C. B. C. Johnston of Wiggins Teape & Co. Ltd. on 12^th December, 1963’. BOT I.M.3, December, 1963; ‘B. P. & B. M. A.’s statement’. The Paper Maker and the British Paper Trade Journal (henceforward The Paper Maker) March 1967, 86.

  [2] Pryde, David J. ‘Outer Seven’. The Times, 18 July 1959, 7F. ‘B. P. & B.M. A. Memorandum to Members of Parliament’. The Paper Maker, July 1967, 72; ‘British Wood Pulp Association Annual Dinner’. The Paper Maker, December 1959, 62.

  [3] Owen, From Empire to Europe, 157.

  [4] McKinlay, et al. ‘Reluctant Europeans?’, 109.

  [5] McKinlay, et al. ‘Reluctant Europeans?’, 91; Robert Lieber has written the most detailed work on the role of business in British European policy. Lieber. British Politics and European Unity; Lieber. ‘Interest Groups and Political Integration’.

  [6] McKinlay, et al. ‘Reluctant Europeans?’, 91.

  [7] ‘The Free Trade Area’. The Paper Maker, August 1959, 44; Kaiser, Using Europe, Abusing the Europeans, 79.

  [8] EFTA Secretariat. The European Free Trade Association, 2nd ed. Geneva: EFTA, 1980, 11.

  [9] NA. BT11/5569. ‘The British Paper and Board Industry. E.F.T.A. and the Common Market’. A BOT memo, 1961.

 [10] ‘How British Industry Grows; Makes 18% of Europe's Total’. Pulp & Paper International, August 1961, 7.

 [11] ‘Free Trade in Paper’. The Economist, 4 May 1957, 420.

 [12] Hills, Papermaking in Britain 1488–1988, 187.

 [13] Owen. From Empire to Europe, 153, 155.

 [14] Milward and Brennan. Britain's Place in the World, 282.

 [15] ‘The imponderables of the world's pulp and paper industries’. The Paper Maker, international number 1972, 42.

 [16] NA. BT258/91. Minute by C. W. Sanders, 13 February 1957.

 [17] Milward and Brennan. Britain's Place in the World, 95, 281–287; NA. CAB134/1026. M.A.C. (55) 34th Meeting, 30 August 1955; ‘Liberalisation at 94 Per cent’. The Economist, 21 July 1956, 248; ‘Remaining Controls on Softwood Removed’. Board of Trade Journal, 14 November 1953, 1011.

 [18] ‘Too Much Wrapping’. The Economist, 21 December 1957, 1069.

 [19] NA. BT258/91. C. V. Oliver, BPBMA, to P. Thorneycroft, BOT, 25 October 1956; ‘European Free Trade. B. P. & B. M. A. objections’. The Paper Maker, April 1958, 325.

 [20] ‘British Wood Pulp Association Annual Dinner’. The Paper Maker, December 1959, 62

 [21] NA. BT258/91. C. V. Oliver, BPBMA, to P. Thorneycroft, BOT, 25 October 1956; BT11/5569. Minute by P. W. Carey, 19 July 1962; ‘The U.K. Paper and Board Industry and the Common Market’, 6 November 1961; BT258/93. ‘Meeting of EFTA Ministerial Council. Paper and Board. Supplementary Note’, May 1963; ‘European Free Trade Association’. The Paper Maker, January 1960, 40.

 [22] NA. BT11/5569. ‘Brief for the Minister of State's Meeting with the British Paper and Board Makers’ Association on the 29^th November'. BOT, 28 November 1961.

 [23] NA. BT258/91. H. Hutchinson, BPBMA, to K. McGregor, BOT, 8 February 1957.

 [24] NA. BT258/91. Minute by E. Wagstaff, 7 March 1957; H. Hutchinson, BPBMA, to K. McGregor, BOT, 1 March 1957.

 [25] NA. BT258/91. ‘Plan G’, minutes by K. McGregor, 11 October 1956.

 [26] NA. BT258/91. C.V. Oliver, BPBMA, to P. Thorneycroft, BOT, 25 October 1956.

 [27] NA. BT258/91. C.V. Oliver, BPBMA, to P. Thorneycroft, BOT, 25 October 1956.

 [28] NA. BT258/92. ‘E.F.T.A.: the paper and board industry and ‘acceleration’ of tariff reductions’. (1961); ‘European Free Trade Association’; ‘Brief for President's meeting with representatives of the U.K. Paper and Board Makers’ Association’, BOT, 13 November 1959.

 [29] NA. BT258/92. ‘Free Trade Area of the Stockholm Group: Impact on Industry. The British Paper and Board Makers Association. (Note of a Meeting)’, BOT, 8 July 1959.

 [30] NA. BT258/92. ‘The Free Trade Area of the Seven. Discussion with Members of the British Paper and Board Makers Association’. F. G. Lee, 23 July 1959.

 [31] NA. BT258/92. ‘The European Free Trade Association—Fears of the U.K. Paper Industry’. F. G. Lee, 9 September 1959.

 [32] NA. BT258/92. ‘The E.F.T.A.: position of the U.K. Paper Industry’. F. G. Lee, 23 November 1959.

 [33] NA. BT11/5729. ‘Consultative Committee for Industry. Brief for meeting at 4 p.m. on 26^th November’. 25 November 1959; ‘Consultative Committee for Industry. Minutes of the 56^th Meeting of the Committee held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, 29^th July, 1959’. BOT.

 [34] NA. BT258/92. ‘Free Trade Area of the Stockholm Group: Impact on Industry. The British Paper and Board Makers Association. (Note of a Meeting)’. BOT, 8 July 1959.

 [35] ‘Paper Industry Firmly Against Outer Free Trade Area’. The Times, 24 June 1959, 19D.

 [36] NA. BT258/2682. ‘Scandinavian pulp and paper cartels’. BOT, IM3, 29 January 1964.

 [37] House of Commons Debates, 5th ser., vol. 615, col. 1171WH, 14 December 1959.

 [38] ‘British Leader Asks Paper Men To Support a ‘United Europe’‘. Pulp & Paper International, June 1961, 20; Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library, Coventry. MSS.200/F/3/P6/25/1. W. R. M. Watson, BPBMA, to W. H. McFadzean, FBI, 10 November 1959; McKinlay, et al. ‘Relucant Europeans?’, 106–107.

 [39] NA. BT258/92. ‘E.F.T.A.: the paper and board industry and ‘acceleration’ of tariff reductions’. (1961); ‘Brief for President's meeting with representatives of the U.K. Paper and Board Makers’ Association’, BOT, 13 November 1959. ‘Paper and Board Industry and E.F.T.A’. D. Fishwick, 1 March 1960.

 [40] NA. BT258/92. ’E.F.T.A.: the paper and board industry and ‘acceleration’ of tariff reductions’. (1961); BT11/5569; House of Commons Debates, 5th ser., vol. 609, col. 575WH, 16 July 1959; vol. 610, cols, 300–301WH, 28 July 1959, 88W 29 July 1959, vol. 612, cols. 836–837WH, 3 November 1959; vol. 614, cols. 54W, 57W, 26 November 1959; col. 147W, 3 December 1959; vol. 615, col. 1171WH, 14 December 1959; vol. 616, cols. 1–2WH, 26 January 1960.

 [41] House of Commons Debates, 5th ser., vol. 676, cols. 22–23WH, 23 April 1963; vol. 67, cols. 1119–1120WH, 25 June 1963; vol. 74, col. 151W, 30 June 1967; vol. 755, col. 126W, 29 November 1967; vol. 807, col. 11W, 23 November 1970; vol. 811, cols. 1193–1194WH, 15 February 1971; vol. 815, cols.23–24WH, 5 April 1971; vol. 816, col. 255W, 3 May 1971; vol. 817, col. 8W, 10 May 1971; cols. 202–203W, 208–209W, 17 May 1971; vol. 818, cols. 10–11W, 24 May 1971; vol. 823, cols. 1200–1201WH, 25 October 1971; vol. 826, cols. 24–25W, 15 November 1971.

 [42] Rose, ‘The Politics of Protection’, 128–150.

 [43] NA. BT11/5569. ’The U.K. paper and board industry and the Common Market’. BPBMA, 6 November 1961.

 [44] Karlsson, Att handla neutralt, 60.

 [45] Archives of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation, Helsinki, Finland [Henceforward FFIF]. NK01.01. EEC/Suomi/Yleinen 1961–1971. A memo by Holger Nystén, 18 September 1961; Paavonen, ‘From Isolation to the Core’, 61.

 [46] Kitzinger, Diplomacy and Persuasion, 74.

 [47] ‘British Wood Pulp Association. Annual Dinner’. The Paper Maker, December 1961, 58.

 [48] NA. BT258/93. ‘British Paper and Board Industry. E.F.T.A. Tariff Cuts’. Draft.

 [49] Wray. The British Paper Industry, 219.

 [50] NA. BT241/2133. ‘UK/Finland Joint Commission. First Meeting, Helsinki 18–21 April, 1971. Brief no. 4: Pulp and Paper’ Department of Trade and Industry, 7 April 1971.

 [51] Wray. The British Paper Industry, 4.

 [52] NA. FV57/2. ‘Trading Practices of Scandinavian Pulp and Paper Manufacturers. Memorandum by the United Kingdom Industrial Delegates to the Consultative Committee’. 28 April 1971.

 [53] Wray. The British Paper Industry, 64–7.

 [54] NA. BT11/5569. ‘Acceleration of E.F.T.A. tariff cuts’. CRE; BOT, 27 November 1961.

 [55] Wray, The British Paper Industry, 219.

 [56] NA. BT11/5569. Edward Heath, Lord Privy Seal, to G. Wills, MP, House of Commons, 1 January 1963.

 [57] ‘Prices and Profits 1960–63’. The Paper Maker, July 1963, 74–6.

 [58] NA. BT258/93. ‘Price of woodpulp’, BOT, 30 April 1963.

 [59] NA. BT258/92. Minute by G.J. MacMahon, 29 May 1961.

 [60] NA. BT258/92.

 [61] NA. BT258/93. A memo by N. S. Belam, 10 April 1963; ‘Acceleration of the E.F.TA. Tariff Council: could we split the difference with the laggards’. A.L. Burgess, 8 April 1963; a minute by A.L. Burgess, 29 March 1963; Pulp and Paper, A.L. Burgess, 1 February 1963; ‘EFTA cuts—paper’ E. J. Beaven, 12 March 1963; BT258/94. A. G. White, BOT, to J.H. Lewen, FO, 29 November 1963; ‘Paper and E.F.T.A.’ A. L. Burgess, 12 November 1963.

 [62] NA. BT258/93. ‘E.F.T.A. Acceleration and paper’. A. L. Burgess, 6 March 1963; ‘Paper and Board: EFTA meeting’. 6 May 1963.

 [63] Blackaby, ‘Incomes policy’, 364.

 [64] NA. BT258/93. A minute by the Minister of State to President, 4 April 1963.

 [65] ‘Issues facing the British Paper and Board Making Industry’. The Paper Maker, March 1963, 49.

 [66] NA. BT258/93. ‘British Paper and Board Industry. E.F.T.A. Tariff Cuts’. BOT draft 1963.

 [67] NA. FO371/171324. M1076/24. A. G. White, BOT, to P. D. Stobart, Helsinki, 6 May 1963, copy for the FO.

 [68] NA. BT258/93. ‘Note of meeting’. P. G. F. Bryant, 15 February 1963.

 [69] NA. BT258/2682. ‘Note of Meeting’, 22 March 1963; BT11/5569. Minute by P. W. Carey, 19 July 1962.

 [70] ‘B. P. & B. M. A. Memoranda’. The Paper Maker, April 1963, 63.

 [71] NA. BT258/93; BT258/94. C. M. P. Brown, BOT, to F. C. Everson, Stockholm, 15 May 1963.

 [72] NA. BT258/2682. ‘Note of Meeting’, 22 March 1963; BT258/94. ‘Brief for the Minister of State's lunch with Mr. C. B. C. Johnston of Wiggins Teape & Co. Ltd. on 12^th December, 1963. BOT, December, 1963’; C. M. P. Brown, BOT, to F. C. Everson, Stockholm, 15 May 1963.

 [73] Rose, Firms, Networks and Business Values, 269–273,276–295; Singleton, ‘The Decline of the British Cotton Industry since 1940’, 307, 313–14.

 [74] Rose, ‘The Politics of Protection’, 136, 138.

 [75] Singleton, ‘The Decline of the British Cotton Industry’, 314–15.

 [76] Wray, The British Paper Industry, 1–2, 156–7; NA. BT258/93. ‘Paper industry and development districts’. P. C. F. Bryant, 25 February 1963.

 [77] NA. BT258/2682. ‘Note of Meeting’. 22 March 1963.

 [78] NA. BT258/94. C. M. P. Brown, BOT, to F. C. Everson, Stockholm, 15 May 1963.

 [79] NA. BT258/2682. ‘Brief for the Minister of State's lunch with Mr. C. B. C. Johnston of Wiggins Teape & Co. Ltd. on 12^th December, 1963’. BOT, December, 1963.

 [80] FFIF. ME03.34 Englanti, kauppa 1962–1967. Price & Pierce Ltd.'s ‘A review of 1963’ to Finnish Cellulose Union, 1 January 1964.

 [81] Crossman, The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister, Vol. 1, 116, 3 January 1965.

 [82] ‘U.K. Paper Makers’ Present Position’. The Paper Maker, December 1964, 42.

 [83] NA. FO371/177332-177333.

 [84] Tew, ‘Policies Aimed at Improving the Balance of Payments’, 344.

 [85] ‘B. P. & B. M. A. Memorandum to Members of Parliament’. The Paper Maker, July 1967, 72; ‘Paper must look to itself’. The Times, 27 July 1967, 21A; FFIF. ME03.34. Englanti, kauppa 1962–1967. E. Pajari, Finnish Embassy London, to Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, 29 June 1967, copy for the Central Association of Finnish Woodworking Industries; Copy of memo by the British Paper and Board Makers' Association, June 1967, distributed to MPs.

 [86] NA. BT11/6865. Minutes by H. F. Heinemann, 4 September 1967.

 [87] House of Commons Debates, 5th ser., vol. 749, cols. 150–51W, 30 June 1967.

 [88] NA. FCO59/311. SEP(67)87, 9 November 1967. ‘Imports of Newsprint. Memorandum by the President of the Board of Trade’.

 [89] NA. BT258/2682. G. L. Pethick, BPBMA, to D.N. Charlish, BOT, 3 January 1968; P. H. Sykes, Reed Paper Group, to the Assistant Secretary, Industries & Manufactures Division, BOT, 5 December 1967; Table, 19 December 1967, an attachment to J. Grimley, Reed Paper Group, to G.L.J. Lucas, BOT, 4 January 1968.

 [90] NA. PREM13/1442. B. W. Meynell, BOT, to D. Andrews, 10 Downing Street, 15 December 1967.

 [91] NA. BT258/2682. ‘Prices of Nordic Pulp and Paper’. D. N. Charlish, 12 January 1968.

 [92] NA. BT258/2685. Draft memo to G. A. Barry.

 [93] NA. BT258/93. ‘The Supply of Woodpulp from the Nordic Countries’. BPBMA/CLP, 10 April 1963; Finnish Cellulose Union, annual reports 1961–67.

 [94] ‘An Unstable relationship’, The Times, 12 May 1971, 21A.

 [95] NA. BT346/32. Norwegian ‘Aide Mémoire’, 16 February 1968, Finnish Aide Mémoire, 15 February 1968; Memorandum from the Nordic Pulp and Paper Organisations', 6 February 1968.

 [96] NA. BT258/2682. Copy of Minute by the Prime Minister, 19 February 1968.

 [97] NA. BT258/2682. Minute by C. M. P. Brown, 21 February 1968.

 [98] NA. BT258/2682. ‘Nordic Pulp and Paper Prices’. H. F. Heinemann, 30 April 1968; Minute by H.F. Heinemann, 19 April 1968.

 [99] NA. BT258/2682. ‘Nordic Pulp and Paper Prices’. H. F. Heinemann, 30 April 1968, BT258/2683. ‘Private Office Minute no. 630: Pulp and Paper Prices. Meeting with B.P.B.M.A. Delegation on Monday, 15^th July, 1968’. A.J. Nieduszynksi, 16 July 1968.

[100] NA. BT258/2682. Minutes by E.L. Philips, 25 April 1968, H.F. Heinemann, 30 April 1968 and D. N. Charlish, 23 April 1968.

[101] NA. BT258/2682. Minute by E. L. Philips, 25 April 1968.

[102] NA. BT258/2683. Aide-Mémoire of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, 25 October 1968; Aide-Mémoire of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, 23 October 1968.

[103] NA. BT258/2684. I. T. Manley, Mintech, to D. H. Andrews, 10 Downing Street, 17 February 1970.

[104] Wray. The British Paper Industry, 4,78–79,93.

[105] Wray. The British Paper Industry, 80–83,91.

[106] NA. PREM13/3142. D. H. Andrews, 10 Downing Street, to I. T. Manley, Mintech, 24 February 1970.

[107] NA. BT258/2684. K. Weedy, BPBMA, to D. N. Charlish, Mintech, 1 April 1970.

[108] NA. BT258/2684. ‘Scandinavia’ by E. Y. Bannard, 6 May 1970.

[109] NA. BT258/2684. ‘Scandinavian pulp and paper prices’, S. N. Chilton, 5 May 1970; See also ‘Scandinavia’, E. Y. Bannard, 15 May 1970; ‘Paper—Scandinavian Pricing Practices’, D. N. Charlish, 15 May 1970.

[110] NA. BT258/2684. Minute by E. Y. Bannard, 4 June 1970; ‘Scandinavian malpractices’, D. N. Charlish, 5 August 1970; D. N. Charlish to Paymaster-General, 21 May 1970.

[111] NA. FV57/2. H Bailey's memo for the Minister for Trade, 19 April 1971; Minister for Trade Office Minute no. 384. C. J. Farrow, 7 April 1971; Trading Practices of Scandinavian Pulp and Paper Manufacturers. Memorandum by the United Kingdom Industrial Delegates to the Consultative Committee'. 28 April 1971.

[112] FFIF. NK01.01.4. EEC/Suomi/EEC-neuvottelut metsäteollisuuden kannalta 1961–1973. ’Neuvottelutulos EEC:n kanssa puunjalostusteollisuuden osalta’. 20 September 1973.

[113] Hannay, ed. Britain's Entry into the European Community, 295.

[114] NA. BT258/2685. G. L. Pethick, BPBMA, to E. Y. Bannard, DTI, 21 January 1971 and the attached ‘Scandinavian Pulp and Paper Prices in the United Kingdom. Memorandum by the British Paper Industry’, 21 January 1971.

[115] NA. BT258/2685. Draft memo to G. A. Barry; Minute by E. T. Bannard, 20 April 1971.

[116] Blackaby, ‘Narrative, 1960–74’, 59, 62–3.

[117] ‘An Unstable relationship’, The Times, 12 May 1971, 21A.

[118] NA. FCO30/1468. ‘Meeting between the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade in the Cabinet Office on Friday 9 June 1972 at 11.00 AM’.

[119] Denman, The Mandarin's Tale, 146.

[120] Denman. The Mandarin's Tale, 147.

[121] NA. FCO33/1864. Telegram no. 362 from Ledwidge, Helsinki, to FCO, 5 July 1972.

[122] FFIF. NK01.01.1 EEC/Suomi/Muistiot 1971–1972. ’P.M. neuvottelutuloksesta EEC:n kanssa puunjalostusteollisuuden osalta’. Aarne Castrén 21 July 1972; NH09.05. EEC/UK-kiintiöt 1970–1976. ’Englannin paperikiintiöt’. M. Korhonen, 14 January 1975.

[123] Wray, The British Paper Industry, 177.

[124] Owen, From Empire to Europe, 1–2, 157–71.

[125] Owen, From Empire to Europe, 1–2, 167.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Niklas Jensen-Eriksen

Niklas Jensen-Eriksen is a Researcher in the Department of History at the University of Helsinki.