§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Prime Minister whether the Government have carried out a review of the direct and indirect costs of the common agricultural policy to the United Kingdom and of the likely increase in costs in the future in the absence of measures to put a stop to the growth in agricultural output.
§ The Prime MinisterI agree that it is essential that the cost of the CAP must be contained. That is why at our instigation the Council of Ministers has adopted conclusions of budgetary discipline, including a financial guideline for agriculture which provides, broadly, that CAP expenditure can only increase at a rate less than the rate of growth of the Community's own resources base. The costs of the CAP to the United Kingdom will be further mitigated by the agreement reached at Fontainebleau on budgetary imbalances.