§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the price of the Maastricht treaty published by HMSO; what is the price of the English text published in Luxembourg for the European Community on sale in HMSO shops; what is the reason for the difference in price; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Robert JacksonThe English language version of the treaty on European union published by the office for official publications of the European Communities is priced at 9 ecu. HMSO, which is the appointed sales agent in Britain for publications of the European Community, has translated this into a selling price of £6.50, using a conversion table provided by the European Community.
HMSO has also published the treaty on European union, including the protocols and final act with declaration, as Cm. 1934. This publication has a cover price of £13.30, determined by reference to a pricing scale applied to all monochrome Command Papers. The pricing scale ensures consistency in the prices of items of similar size and appearance, regardless of their relative popularity.