Press Release

For immediaterelease

Wednesday 25June 2003

EUenlargement: not all it's cracked up to be, says IoD

EUenlargement will bring more pain than gain, according to a new study releasedtoday by the Institute of Directors.

Contraryto conventional wisdom, enlargement will not deliver a major boost to UK trade.In the short term, expanding the EU will bring more manufacturing job lossesand put the UKs structural funds at risk.

TheIoD policy paper, EU Enlargement: not allits cracked up to be, finds:

British businessshould keep EU enlargement in perspective. The combined GDP of the accessionstates is barely more than that of the Netherlands.

Merseyside, SouthYorkshire and West Wales and the Valleys can expect to lose their ObjectiveOne funding as structural funds are redirected to poorer areas in the newmember states.

The new member stateswill not gain access to western European markets, since they already have aseries of free trade agreements with the EU, largely signed in the mid-1990s.Their businesses will, however, be obliged to adopt potentially damaging EUrules and regulations.

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TheIoDs Parliamentary and European Adviser, James Walsh, commented:

"Politicianswould have us believe that EU enlargement will bring massive economic benefits.In fact, there will be more pain than gain. The idea that enlargement willcreate huge new trading opportunities is simply a fiction. Enlargement willintensify competition for British manufacturers and put EU funding fordisadvantaged British regions at risk.

"ForBritain, for the EU and for the new member states, enlargement is a poor dealall round."

Ends 25.6.03 No.178

Notesfor editors

1. Ten countries willformally join the EU on 1 May 2004: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, CzechRepublic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus. Romania and Bulgariawill join in 2007.

2.      Copies ofEU Enlargement: not all its cracked upto be, are available from the IoD Press Office - tel. 020 7451 3264 email press@iod.com or can be downloaded from www.iod.com/policy/papers

3. The Institute ofDirectors is a non-party political independent organisation with around 55,000members. In addition to its wide range of business services, the IoD providesan effective voice to represent the interests of its members to government andkey opinion-formers. It also brings the experience of business leaders to bearon the conduct of public affairs

Contact Points:

Richard Taylor, PressOfficer, tel: 020 7451 3264

mobile and out of hours: 07721 734886

David Marshall,Director of Public Affairs, tel: 020 7451 3263

mobile and outof hours: 0776 4883420

email: press@iod.com

web: www.iod.com