Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect that the EU referendum will have on their target of doubling exports by 2020.

At the February European Council meeting the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union (EU). The Government's view is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.

As part of the new settlement it was confirmed that the EU will pursue, with renewed commitment, free trade agreements with the world’s most dynamic economies, so that the tariff and regulatory barriers faced by UK companies in large and growing non-EU markets are reduced or eliminated. As an example, after the EU-South Korea deal came into force in 2011, UK exports to South Korea doubled in three years.

These deals have the potential to boost UK exports significantly and can contribute to the Government’s 2020 target.