Agricultural Products Processing and Marketing (Improvement Grant) (Amendment) Regulations 1983

HL Deb 14 April 1983 vol 441 cc367-8

Earl Ferrers

My Lords, I beg to move that the Agricultural Products Processing and Marketing (Improvement Grant) (Amendment) Regulations 1983 be approved. These regulations are very short and make only one minor amendment to the principal regulations; namely the Agricultural Products Processing and Marketing (Improvement Grant) Regulations 1977 (SI No. 2112). They will extend for two years on an unchanged basis the existing arrangements whereby United Kingdom projects which qualify for a European Community grant under Regulation 355/77 have the necessary qualifying national grant.

There are certain projects for which the United Kingdom has no national scheme for grant aid but for which the European Community do give grant. It is part of the conditions of this Community grant that there should be an element of national contribution. In the United Kingdom we have provided this by the Agricultural Products Processing and Marketing Regulation. And this order merely extends the scheme, and this facility, by another two years. If that short explanation meets with the approval of your Lordships, I beg to move.

Moved, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 21st February be approved—(Earl Ferrers.)

Lord John-Mackie

My Lords, I shall not detain the House for long. Naturally we accept this order which, as he always does, the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers, has introduced very crisply. I have only one complaint. I have complained before about the official language in which these orders are written. Unless you sit down and read all the amendments you get thoroughly bogged down, as I did over this one, simple though one may think it is.

Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3073/82 amends No. 355/77 of 15th February 1977, and it has two sections to it. There is Regulation EEC 1820/80, which is not mentioned in the order which is laid before us. I thought I had better have a look at that to see what it does, because it says in Article 2 that it is increasing by 40 million ECUs some particular item, and by 240 million another item. I went and, at great length, I obtained the regulation. The legislation for that date was defined as affecting only Western Ireland. As the noble Earl will notice, it is on the same page as the same Council regulation, No. 3073/82, which is slightly confusing. However, that is all I have to say about it, and we naturally accept the order.

On Question, Motion agreed to.