§ Mr. Roweasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the early payment of non-value added tax own resources to the European Communities in January.
§ Mr. BrookeIn accordance with article 10(2) of Council Regulation 2891/77, the Commission has requested member states to advance from February the payment of own resources other than VAT in respect of agricultural, sugar and isoglucose levies and customs duties collected by the Government on its behalf.
The Government will accordingly make an advance payment today of some £138 million, in accorance with the European Court of Justice's ruling on 18 December that these requests impose an obligation on member states to comply with them. As I informed the House on 19 December at column 746, the payment will be made from the Consolidated Fund under the terms of section 2(3) of the European Communities Act, 1972. The payment of levies and duties on 20 February will be reduced by the amount of the advance. There will, therefore, be no net addition to forecast public expenditure for 1986–87.
§ Mr. Higginsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what means he proposes to inform the House of a payment of own resources made in advance at the demand of the 468W European Commission, following the decision of the European Court of Justice in case 93/85; and whether the House will be given the opportunity of expressing an opinion on the circumstances which have given rise to the need for the advancing of payments before the transfer is made.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to the reply, 15 January 1987]: The Government propose to inform the House by means of a parliamentary answer whenever advance payments of levies and duties are made. It will not normally, I fear, be practicable to arrange for the House to debate the surrounding circumstances before such advances are made since requests are usually made at short notice. They arise from temporary cash flow problems and do not involve any increase in public expenditure. Nevertheless, the House will continue to have the opportunity to discuss advance payments and the general financial position in the context of the Government's regular reports and statements to Parliament on Community budgetary matters.
§ Mr. Higginsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, since the decision of the European Court of Justice in case 93/85 is contrary to the Government's contention that advance payments of own resources to the European Commission require specific parliamentary approval, the United Kingdom intends to propose in the Council of Ministers the amendment or annulment of articles 10 and 11 of Council Regulation 1891/77, so far as they involve an absolute liability to make such payments and impose a penalty for late compliance.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to the reply, 15 January 1987]: The Government have no plans to make such a proposal. There would, in any case, be no prospect of obtaining agreement to it.
§ Mr. Higginsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he had made of the extent to which current cash flow problems of the Community are likely to give rise to demands for advance payments of own resources in the present European Community budgetary year.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to the reply, 15 January 1987]: It is the Government's view that the European Commission's cash flow difficulties are such that it may be required to request advance payments of non-VAT own resources from member states for at least the first quarter of 1987. We have recently received such a request for the advance of February's payment to January. Our assessment is reflected in the public expenditure plans, published in the public expenditure White Paper (Cm 56-II, section 3.3, net payments to European Community Institutions, pages 68–71) on 14 January, in which it is assumed that some £130 million will be drawn forward from 1987–88 to 1986–87.