Dormand opposed Britain's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), and at the time of the referendum on EEC membership in 1975 he was an advocate for the United Kingdom leaving the EEC and rejoining the European Free Trade Association. His main work in opposition was as a member of select committee on nationalised industries, where his knowledge and inquisitorial skills won him the respect of the committee's left-wing chair Ian Mikardo. In February 1972 he called for employment for miners who had been made redundant, and became Secretary of the Parliamentary Labour Party's Northern Group in 1973.