§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will itemise and give the present annual cash value of each of the benefits of membership of the European Community and the European Union.
§ Lord HenleyPublic sector receipts to the United Kingdom from membership of the EU in 1993–94 were £3,864 million. In addition, the United Kingdom private sector obtained significant receipts from the EC Budget.
However, the benefits of membership to the United Kingdom are much wider than those which can be measured directly in quantifiable cash terms. They include the benefits in increased trade and inward investment in the United Kingdom from membership of a trading bloc of some 370 million people; the increased bargaining power in world trade negotiations that this brings, opening up markets to British exporters; the benefits from influencing the outcome of decisions taken at a Community level, such as subsidiarity, deregulation and state aids; and the political and economic benefits from the increased stability that the EU brings to Europe as a whole.