Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I stated on Second Stage that I was surprised by the absence of an EU dimension. The Minister may have mentioned this; I heard most of his reply but may have missed some. Does the lack of an EU dimension not have implications? Do our trade relations and various contractual or treaty-related relations with the European Union not have implications? Will every EU state be acting entirely independently in this matter? Consider airbuses in this regard. Half their parts may be manufactured in Germany and almost all of the other half in France, while the rest may be manufactured in Spain and Britain. The EU does our negotiating in terms of world trade and it therefore surprises me that it seems to be a question of every country for itself in this case.