§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, with reference to the recent actions of the Commission of the European Communities in withholding sums payable to United Kingdom enterprises, he will tabulate the total sums so withheld under appropriate category headings, stating the nature of the support for which payment is now due and the quantities of agricultural produce concerned in each case.
§ Mr. JoplingOn 12 October the European Commission suspended throughout the Community until 23 October a number of special provisions allowing for the advance payment of certain aids and subsidies under specified conditions. The Commission has subsequently extended the suspension until 31 December 1983. This measure does not effect ultimate entitlement to aid or subsidy on completion of the necessary formalities.
The value and volume of payments delayed by this measure depends entirely on what the level of applications for advance payment would have been in its absence. It is not possible to give authoritative estimates although we would expect greater overall effects in some other member states than in the United Kingdom.