HC Deb 30 November 2000 vol 357 c735W
22. Ms Dari Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the benefits to manufacturing industry of membership of the single European market in the last 12 months. [139554]

Mrs. Liddell

Our membership of the European Single Market gives all UK business access to the largest Single Market in the world—a market of nearly 380 million consumers. Over 55 per cent. of the UK's trade, worth over £200 billion a year, is with the EU.

We attract a huge amount of inward investment as a gateway to the Single Market, from countries outside the EU.

The European Union is the world's largest trading bloc and membership of that bloc is crucial for British trade, investment and prosperity.

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