§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the European countries with which the United Kingdom has(a) a trade surplus and (b) a deficit between the second quarter of 1979 and the present day. [7023]
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 19 December 1995]: The most recent figures for visible trade show that, between the second quarter of 1979 and the third quarter of 1995, the UK had a crude trade surplus with the Irish Republic, Spain and Greece and a crude trade deficit with Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Portugal, Norway and Switzerland. The smaller western European countries and those of eastern Europe have been excluded because to provide the relevant figures for them would involve disproportionate cost.
Information on UK trade in invisibles prior to 1988 is not available for individual countries. Between 1988 and 1994, the UK has had an invisible surplus with Denmark, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland and a deficit with the other countries of the EC and the European Free Trade Association.