European Council Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

European Council

John Redwood Excerpts
Monday 22nd February 2016

(8 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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It is important that we look in detail at the full economic impacts of either staying in or choosing to leave the EU. We will set out that approach in the weeks and months to come so that people can see what the dangers and risks are and what the case is.

John Redwood Portrait John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)
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Do not the common agricultural, fishing and energy policies do damage to domestic producers and add to the colossal deficit we always run with the rest of the EU while running a trade surplus with the rest of the world? What can we do about those unfairnesses if we stay in the European Union?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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We have made a lot of progress in recent years. The wine lakes and butter mountains are a thing of the past. We have made big reforms to the common fisheries policy. I know that my right hon. Friend studies these things very closely, but although we have a deficit with the EU on goods, we have a substantial surplus when it comes to services. We have to think about the future and how we safeguard the services industries as well as making sure that our position in the single market is open.