§ Mr. Hicksasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether those areas of Bodmin Moor now in receipt of the various forms of financial assistance under the existing United Kingdom national system of support for hill farming will continue to be eligible for grant aid within the provisions of the Community directive designed to assist the poorer and upland farm areas recently adopted by the Council of Ministers.
§ Mrs. FennerThe Council of Ministers has passed a resolution agreeing to adopt by 1st October a directive which will provide a special system of aids for farming in the poorer areas of the Community, but the detailed provisions of the directive are not yet settled. Under the terms of the Council's resolution it would be for member States to propose, and for the Council to approve, the areas to benefit according to common criteria. As my hon. Friend will know from the answer given to him on 21st March, the criteria in the draft directive put forward by the Commission seem to be adequate to cover the hill fanning areas in the United Kingdom.—[Vol. 853, c. 120–1.]