HC Deb 19 January 1981 vol 997 cc77-8W
Mr. Shepherd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what detailed proposals he has to reduce the proportion of the European Economic Community budget dedicated to the common agricultural policy.

Mr. Buchanan-Smith

This must be achieved mainly through disincentives to surplus production.

Mr. Shepherd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he has to reform the common agricultural policy.

Mr. Buchanan-Smith

Our main aim is to contain the cost of the policy through measures to restrain surplus production and to bring supply into better balance with demand.

Mr. Shepherd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are his proposals for the elimination of structural surpluses under the common agricultural policy.

Mr. Buchanan-Smith

A better balance between supply and demand should be achieved by restraining the returns of those contributing to the surplus and through such other measures as are appropriate and negotiable.

Mr. Richard Shepherd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken in 1980 to reduce the cost of the common agricultural policy to British consumers; and how much this has amounted to.

Mr. Buchanan-Smith

[pursuant to his reply, 16 January 1981]: We negotiated the continuation of the butter subsidy, which is wholly financed by the Community and is worth about £100 million to consumers in a full year.

We secured agreement to the continuation of the beef variable premium scheme, which enables the United Kingdom to support beef production by payments to farmers instead of relying exclusively on support of the market price through intervention purchases.

The Community also introduced a suckler cow subsidy as an alternative to a further increase in the beef support price. The premiums are partly, and the suckler cow subsidy is wholly, Community-financed and estimated expenditure on them in the United Kingdom in the 1980–81 marketing year is £78 million and £18 million respectively.

In negotiating the extension of the common agricultural policy to sheepmeat, we ensured that the United Kingdom could continue to support its producers through deficiency payments rather than intervention. Between the introduction of the regime on 20 October and the end of 1980, these payments, which are wholly financed by the Community, were worth about £32 million.

Associated with the introduction of the regime were voluntary agreements between the community and overseas supplying countries under which imports up to levels rather greater than these countries have sent in recent years will be admitted subject to a tariff of 10 per cent. instead of 20 per cent.

Forward to