Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Price on 8 November (HL2605) concerning trade in goods and services with the EU, whether non-EU countries listed in tables 1 and 2 have full access to the EU single market and which of them export more goods and services to the EU than the UK does.
Answered by Lord Price
The nature of the access to the EU single market that firms in countries outside the EU have when exporting to the EU depends on the nature of any trade agreements they might have with the EU. Any products and services they sell in the single market would have to comply with the EU and, where appropriate, Member State specific rules and requirements to do so, including payment of tariffs. In some cases, sanctions or other restrictions may be imposed thereby preventing, or limiting, access to the single market.
Data are not available from a single source for exports of goods and services combined. China is the only country outside the EU that exports more goods to the EU than the UK does. The United States is the only country outside the EU that exports more services to the EU than the UK does.
(Source: Eurostat Comext International Trade in Goods and International Trade in Services databases)
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are countries outside the single market which carry out a greater level of trade with the rest of the EU than with the UK; and if so, which countries.
Answered by Lord Price
Data are not available from a single source for trade in goods and services combined. The value of trade is calculated by summing exports and imports. The single market here is defined as the EU countries.
Data for 2014 taken from Eurostat show there were 194 countries and territories where the value of trade in goods with the rest of the EU was higher than the value of trade in goods with the UK. These countries are listed in Table 1 - attached.
Data for 2014 taken from Eurostat show there were 200 countries and territories where the value of trade in services with the rest of the EU was higher than the value of trade in services with the UK. These countries are listed in Table 2 - attached.
Asked by: Lord Stoddart of Swindon (Independent Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the relative costs to the UK and the EU if the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada is not agreed.
Answered by Lord Price
The Government welcomes the signature of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) agreement on Sunday 30 October, after agreement was reached by all Member States on Friday 28 October. CETA is an important trade agreement for the UK, according to estimates by the European Commission, the agreement could lead to GDP gains for the EU as a whole of up to €11.6bn per year.