HC Deb 02 March 1971 vol 812 cc1380-3
10. Mr. John Wells

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on Government policy on compensation for those sections of horticulture that would be adversely affected by Great Britain's entry into the European Economic Community.

Mr. Anthony Stodart

My right hon. Friend has already made known his readiness to discuss with the leaders of the industry what help the Government can give in the case of growers faced with difficult problems of adjustment on entry to the European Economic Community. The time to carry this further will be after the transitional arrangements for horticulture have been settled.

Mr. Wells

While I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the breadth of his answer, can we be reasonably assured that all sectors will be included in this review? When my right hon. Friend the Member for Grantham (Mr. Godber) first outlined it some years ago he clearly had glass in mind. Can we be assured that all sectors will be fully considered?

Mr. Stodart

My right hon. Friend has made it clear that he is ready to discuss with the leaders of the industry any problems of this kind which they wish to raise.

14. Mr. Hayhoe

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, whether he will specify the article of the Treaty of Rome, or regulation, which lays down that a high proportion of the Community budget should be spent on agricultural support.

Mr. Prior

There is nothing in the Community's legislation which lays down that a high proportion of the budget should continue to be spent on agricultural support.

Mr. Hayhoe

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his reply. Does it not show how misleading are some of the comments of those who say that our entry into the Common Market will be merely a method of subsidising the inefficient producer on the Continent? Are there not influential voices already within the Community arguing for a higher proportion of the Community budget to be used on non-agricultural matters such as regional policy?

Mr. Prior

The proportion of the budget devoted to industrial, regional and social policy could well be increased, and we certainly would want to see increases in those areas.

Mr. Alfred Morris

Will the Minister give the Government's reaction to the overnight news from Brussels about the length of the transitional period in which we shall be allowed to adjust to Common Market price levels? What representations is he making to his right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on behalf of the British housewife?

Mr. Prior

These are proposals which I understand emanate from Brussels, and they are counter-proposals to the ones which we have already put to the Commission and to the Community. I am certain that my right hon. and learned Friend is well aware of them and will be taking them into account.

15. Mr. Hayhoe

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what machinery exists within the European Economic Community to guarantee producer prices for farmers; and how these producer prices compare to the average received by farmers in this country now.

Mr. Prior

The mechanisms used to support prices under the common agricultural policy include levies on imports, intervention on the market, and restitution payments on exports. Their target and intervention prices are in general higher than our guaranteed prices, as was shown in the detailed reply to a Question from my hon. Friend the Member for Flint, West (Sir A. Meyer) on 9th November last.—[Vol. 806. c. 46–8.]

Mr. Hayhoe

Does my right hon. Friend agree that these higher producer prices will be a great spur to our agricultural community and may well lead to higher productivity? Will he confirm that some of the difference between our food prices and the higher food prices on the other side of the Channel is due to the less efficient retail and distributing mechanisms over there?

Mr. Prior

Yes, Sir. There is no doubt that our systems of food manufacture, distribution and retailing are far in advance of those in the Common Market area. Certainly I should think that British agriculture with its efficiency would increase production very considerably given the price levels that rule in the Common Market.

Mr. Strang

Is the Minister aware that in no sense can E.E.C. farmers be said to have a guaranteed price as British farmers have? Does he not agree that the inevitable consequence of entry into the Common Market is that farmers will have to accept prices which are subject to much sharper fluctuations?

Mr. Prior

The hon. Gentleman is right in saying that there are no guaranteed prices as such, but the intervention price levels are higher than our guaranteed prices are now by quite some margin. Of course, in a market economy there would tend to be more fluctuations, but the hon. Gentleman must know that even under our system there are considerable fluctuations.

Mr. Body

Does my right hon. Friend agree with that part of Dr. Mansholt's report which says that the cost of agricultural support in E.E.C. will continue to rise until the price mechanism is allowed to work in the case of surpluses, by which he clearly meant lower prices?

Mr. Prior

It would obviously suit the book of this country for price levels within the Common Market to be restrained. This has happened over the past few years, and, as a result, a good many of the surpluses are no longer present. I should have thought that some of the less fortunate parts of the common agricultural policy are now being brought under control.

Mr. Hooson

Does not the Minister agree that in the hill and marginal areas farmers depend not only on producer prices but on grants and subsidies? Would it not be helpful if he were to publish a list of those subsidies and grants which would still be valid under the Common Market system?

Mr. Prior

Some of our grants and subsidies would undoubtedly still be valid under the Common Market system. Individual countries in the Common Market have their own national policies for other areas, but I would not necessarily want to encourage that. I should like to consider further the point the hon. and learned Gentleman has made.