HC Deb 04 July 1984 vol 63 cc307-8
11. Sir Anthony Meyer

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether British membership of the European Economic Community has affected the competitiveness of British exports to markets outside the European Economic Community.

Mr. Channon

Access to a wider Community market has allowed British manufacturers to achieve greater economies of scale. This will have improved the ability of British exporters to compete in all markets.

Sir Anthony Meyer

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Is it not a fact that, were it not for the stiffer competition that British industry faces in the EEC, it would find it harder to compete in markets outside the EEC?

Mr. Channon

There can be no doubt that being a member of the Community has been a reason why, for example, there has been anxiety to achieve so much foreign investment in this country. That is because of the access that we have to a domestic market as large as 270 million people.

Mr. Gould

Something must have caused a decline in competitiveness, because the most commonly used index shows a loss of over 27 per cent. since the first quarter of 1979. Is it not a remarkable piece of mismanagement which has allowed what were supposed to have been two great advantages to British industry, membership of the EEC and North sea oil, to cancel each other out so that every penny of the £10 billion benefit to our balance of payments from North sea oil will be needed this year to pay for the deficit in our trade in manufactured goods with the EEC, a deficit which is rising inexorably by £2 billion a year?

Mr. Channon

I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. The figures—I am sure that he knows them — show that we have had a surplus on our trading figures for the last four years. It would be impossible for our trading figures to show a surplus in every product or with every part of the world. That would be out of the question. It is undoubtedly true that British industry is now much more competitive than it was a few yers ago. We are better at performance, quality, design, reliability and at selling our goods abroad.