§ Mr. Dormandasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he can now state what changes there will be in the structure and control of the coalmining industry if Great Britain joins the European Communities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. EmeryI have nothing to add to the White Paper (Cmnd. 4715) published in July last year, and what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said in the debate on the Second Reading of the European Communities Bill on 16th February.
§ Mr. McBrideasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when his Department will begin to prepare the small firm business community for the changes which will come on accession to the Treaty of Rome, in view of the additional strain which will be placed on the management resources of small firms; and if he will make a statement as to the manner in which his Department will act in Wales in relation to those matters;
(2) if he will make a progress statement on the impact of entry into the European Economic Community on small firms in Wales, bearing in mind paragraph 9.34, page 107, of the Bolton Report.
§ Mr. Anthony GrantA great deal is already being done to help all British firms, large and small, in Wales and elsewhere. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State told the House on 28th February, in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. John Hannam), our study of the effects on small firms is well under way and we expect to decide by the summer182W whether special steps are needed to supplement what is already being done.
Our evidence supports the CBI conclusion, to which my right hon. Friend then referred, that those small firms which adjust their production and organisation appropriately should do well.—[Vol. 832, c. 28.]