§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the construction and operating costs of the European Commission's sports centre; whether the application for funds for the construction of the centre was sent to the European Economic Community's budget authority for approval; and what estimate the Commission has made of expected running costs.
§ Mr. RidleyThe building, which includes the fitness centre, is rented by the Commission. The approval of the Community budgetary authority—the Council and the European Parliament—for the rental involved was obtained, but the Commission did not inform the other institutions that the building would include a fitness centre. Running costs of the centre have been estimated at 8.7 million Belgian francs—£230,000 approximately.
The action of the Commission has been criticised in the report of the Court of Auditors on the 1980 financial year; I fully support this criticism and Her Majesty's Government's position will be made clear during consideration of the report.