HL Deb 12 June 1979 vol 400 c605WA
Lord O'HAGAN

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What effect membership of the EEC has had on:

  1. (a) unemployment;
  2. (b) inflation;
  3. (c) food prices; and
  4. (d) the retail price index in the United Kingdom.

The MINISTER of STATE, TREASURY (Lord Cockfield)

To assess the effect of EEC membership on economic variables such as prices, output and employment would involve constructing the course the United Kingdom economy would have followed if we had not joined the Community in 1973. The results of the effects of entry obtained by such a method, even if it were possible, would be largely determined by the assumptions made in constructing this hypothetical course, and would be arbitrary.