§ Mr. Jayasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the receipts and contributions of each member country to the European Economic Community budget in terms of sterling in the most recent financial years; and what are the estimates for the current year.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 22nd March], gave the following information:
The contributions by each member State to the 1975 and 1976 Community budgets were as follows:
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Million units of account 1975 1976 Belgium … 397.4 498.2 Denmark … 101.8 159.3 Germany … 1,654.6 2,111.7 France … 1,345.9 1,652.7 Ireland … 25.2 39.5 Italy … 1,030.6 1,316.9 Luxembourg … 9.6 11.9 Netherlands … 528.2 678.3 United Kingdom … 799.7 1,250.8 TOTAL … 5,893.0 7,719.3 Only limited information confined to particular sectors is available in respect of receipts by all member States. The totals for receipts for the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, the Regional Development Fund and the 10 per cent. reimbursement for cost of collection of own resources are as follows:
Million units of account 1975 1976 Belgium … 218.5 381.7 Denmark … 331.2 377.8 Germany … 764.2 1,032.2 France … 1,303.6 1,514.3 Ireland … 262.1 197.8 Italy … 1,088.0 1,354.1 Luxembourg … 6.6 9.2 Netherlands … 537.7 775.1 United Kingdom … 927.1 946.1 TOTAL … 5,439.0 6,588.3 Receipts by member States from the Social Fund have been excluded, as the only information available relates to commitments to member States rather than actual payments.
Comparable information for 1977 and estimates for 1978 are not available.
The figures quoted above were converted into individual member States' national currencies on the basis of fixed IMF parities—on which the budget unit of account was based—rather than market exchange rates. Thus, it would not be meaningful to express the figures for other member States in sterling on the basis of the United Kingdom rate of 2.4 budget units of account to the £ sterling.
§ Mr. Jayasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the United Kingdom's contribution to the European Economic Community budget in the current year compares with the estimated share of gross national product; whether the formula for revising the United Kingdom budget contribution agreed in the course of the renegotiations has been activated at any time to date; and whether he foresees its being activated in the foreseeable future.
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§ Mr. Joel Barnett,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 22nd March 1978], gave the following information:
The latest year for which information is available on the United Kingdom's share of Community gross national product is 1976, when it was 22.62 per cent.; the share is not expected to vary significantly in 1977 and 1978. The United Kingdom's gross contribution to the 1976 Community budget was 16.30 per cent., and to the 1977 budget was 19.24 per cent. It is estimated at about 23 per cent. in 1978. The calculations for both GNP shares and budget shares are based on an exchange rate of 2.4 budget units of account to the £ sterling.
The United Kingdom has not so far received any refund from the financial mechanism which was agreed in the course of renegotiation. Whether or not the United Kingdom will benefit from the mechanism in the foreseeable future will depend on a number of criteria, including our overall economic situation relative to that of other member States.