HC Deb 15 May 1980 vol 984 cc663-4W
Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he has any estimate of the number of jobs (a) created and (b) destroyed as a result of United Kingdom membership of the European Economic Community.

Mr. Jim Lester

Between December 1972, the month prior to our entry into the European Community, and December 1979, the latest date for which figures are available, the total numbers of employees in employment in all industries and services in the United Kingdom increased by just over one-third of a million. It is not, however, possible to estimate the effect of membership of the European Community on these movements.