HC Deb 25 October 1984 vol 65 cc794-6
4. Mr. Hardy

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current size of the dairy herd; how this compares with the number two years ago; and what decline has been noted in each of the other member states of the Community.

Mr. MacGregor

The provisional results of the 1984 June census show that there were 3,265,000 dairy cows in the United Kingdom herd—0.5 per cent. more than in June 1982.

The most recent statistics for the rest of the Community are for December 1983. They show that between 1981 and 1983 the United Kingdom herd, with an increase of 4.1 per cent., grew faster than the herds in France, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and Greece. Only the herds in Germany, the Netherlands. Luxembourg and Ireland expanded more than the United Kingdom. With permission, I shall publish the information in full in the Official Report.

Mr. Hardy

In the light of that and previous answers, have the Minister and his colleagues begun to have any misgivings at all about the wretched failure of the Government's dairy farming policy? The figures that he has just given may well be accurate, but does he accept that the fact remains that we are much nearer to reaching the position that the Government pledged than any other member state within the Community?

Mr. MacGregor

Like my right hon. Friend, in the past few months I have been spending a great deal of time in many parts of the country with dairy farmers. There is increasing acceptance that it was necessary to curb the ever-spiralling costs of the dairy surplus throughout the Community. We have been devoting much effort in Brussels to ensuring that the Commission's regulations are applied fairly and uniformly throughout the Community. There is increasing evidence that they are and that milk supplies are coming down in other countries.

Mr. Budgen

As the number of dairy cows is crucially decided by milk quotas, will my hon. Friend confirm that within the EEC there is no machinery for the enforcement of those quotas if a member state decides to defy the EEC?

Mr. MacGregor

If a member state decides to defy the EEC by not implementing the regulations, as distinct from the individual producer going above his quota, there is the stiff penalty of disallowance on Community expenditure in that country in the dairy sector.

Mr. Strang

Is the Minister aware that the national milk production trends quoted by his right hon. Friend a couple of minutes ago are highly selective? Is it not deeply disturbing that in France, Italy and Ireland milk production between April and September increased? Whatever views the hon. Gentleman is attributing to farmers, let me make it clear that no one in the dairy industry wants thousands of jobs destroyed in order to pave the way for increased production on the continent.

Mr. MacGregor

We have already made it clear, and I underline it, that we are determined that the system is applied fairly throughout the Community. It is true that the pace of decline differs from country to country. The speed with which the system has come in in different countries has varied, and, as my right hon. Friend pointed out, the drought has had an effect here; but there is evidence of a decline, and we shall continue to watch it carefully.

Mr. Jim Spicer

When does my hon. Friend expect to see the first quota payments into the Commission from those countries which are in excess of their quota? That is when the money will be on the line and when we shall know whether people are playing fair.

Mr. MacGregor

I fully understand my hon. Friend's point. The answer is mid-November.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

Does the Minister not recall having gone down this road once before when he came to the Dispatch Box as a Minister in the Department of Industry to assure us that the Europeans would cut the steel industry down to size? They did not do so on that occasion and they will not do so on this occasion. Will the Minister finally learn a lesson?

Mr. MacGregor

I do not think that I came to the Dispatch Box and made that particular comment, but I repeat that at every Council meeting we raise the point that the system must apply fairly throughout the Community. We fully understand and share the United Kingdom dairy industry's interests and we are determined to see that that is done.

Following is the information:

Dairy Herd Size in the European Community
December 1981 December 1983 Change
'000 head '000 head per cent.
Germany 5,438 5,735 5.5
France 7,054 7,195 2.0
Italy 3,016 3,068 1.7
Netherlands 2,407 2,521 4.7
Belgium 965 995 3.1
Luxembourg 63 73 7.4
Ireland 1,453 1,535 5.3
Denmark 1,020 988 -3.1
Greece 242 237 -2.1
United Kingdom 3,293 3,429 4.1

Source Eurostat.