§ Mr. Rathboneasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will list the achievements of his Department since May 1979; and if he will make a statement on the extent to which such achievement resulted from the United Kingdom's membership of the European Community.
§ Mr. BiffenI refer my hon. Friend to the answers given to my hon. Friend the Member for Melton (Mr. Latham) by my predecessor on 11 July 1980 and by me on 14 July 1981.
Membership of the European Community is an integral part of my Department's policy. Our trade has the opportunities of a free market of 270 million people, and the open competition within the Community which the Treaty of Rome seeks to ensure.