HC Deb 24 October 1978 vol 955 cc942-3W
Mrs. Winifred Ewing

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will pub lish a balance sheet prior to the next General Election showing the extent of the total contribution of the United Kingdom in financial terms to the European Economic Community and the extent of the total receipts by the United Kingdom from the said Community since the entry of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Joel Barnett

The United Kingdom's contributions to, and receipts from, the Community budget since 1973 have been as follows:

£ million
Gross contributions Receipts Net contributions
1973 181.1 78.7 102.4
1974 180.5 149.9 30.6
1975 341.7 397.7 —56.0
1976 462.8 295.5 167.3
1977 736.8 368.4 368.4
1978 (to end June) 645.8 209.9 435.9
Total 2,548.7 1,500.1 1,048.6

INCREASES IN CONSUMER PRICES
Percentage change in year to
December December December December July
1974 1975 1976 1977 1978
EEC countries:
Belgium … 15.7 11.0 7.6 6.3 4.0
Denmark … 15.5 4.3 13.3 12.3 10.1
France … 15.2 9.6 9.9 9.0 9.3
Germany … 5.9 5.4 3.9 3.5 2.6
Ireland … 20.0* 16.8* 20.6* 10.8* 6.2†
Italy … 24.5 11.2 22.0 14.0 11.9†
Luxembourg … 11.2 10.9 8.4 4.4 2.4
Netherlands … 10.9 9.2 8.3 5.4 4.1
United Kingdom … 19.2 24.9 15.1 12.1 7.8‡
Other countries:
Canada … 12.4 9.5 5.8 9.5 9.8
United States of America … 12.2 7.0 4.8 6.7 7.7
Japan … 21.9 7.6 10.5 4.9 4.1
Austria … 9.7 6.7 7.2 4.2 3.0
Norway … 10.3 11.5 7.7 9.6 7.3
Sweden … 11.9 8.5 9.2 13.2 8.6
Switzerland … 7.5 3.5 1.3 1.1 1.1
Source: OECD, Main Economic Indicators.
* November figure.
† Increase to May 1978.
‡ Increase to September 1978.