§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will raise with the European Commission the continued funding of the trade union liaison unit which is located at the headquarters of the European Economic Community in Brussels.
§ Mr. John GrantI have been asked to reply.
I understand that the unit referred to is run as part of the Commission's information service. If those who benefit from the services of the unit have representations to make about its future, it would, I am sure, be correct for them to
OUTPUT PER HEAD* Seasonally adjusted, 1974=100 United Kingdom United States West Germany Japan Italy 1975— 2nd quarter … … … 98.8 99.3 99.6 102.0 95.6 3rd quarter … … … 97.5 101.3 101.4 103.3 95.4 4th quarter … … … 98.5 101.9 103.9 104.7 97.5 1976— 1st quarter … … … 102.1 102.6 106.1 106.6 100.6 2nd quarter … … … 101.4 102.7 107.5 108.6 100.7 3rd quarter … … … 102.2 103.3 107.9 108.3 99.4 4th quarter … … … 103.4 103.2 108.9 108.9 102.2 1977— 1st quarter … … … 101.5 104.1 110.3 110.9 .. 2nd quarter … … … 101.7 104.2 110.5 112.1 .. 3rd quarter … … … 102.5 105.0 .. 112.2 .. Source: United Kingdom—latest published estimates. Other countries—OECD Main Economic Indicators. OECD Labour Force Statistics. * Gross domestic product at constant market prices per head of total employment for United Kingdom and Italy; gross national product for United States, West Germany and Japan. The series have been derived using data on gross domestic product which have not been standardised to international definitions, but differences in definition are unlikely to have an appreciable effect on the comparability of growth rates over this period. Quarterly data for France are not available.
§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth in: (a) total industrial output and (b) manufacturing industry output, for each quar-
624Wapproach the Commission direct or, if appropriate, through the European Trade Union Confederation.