§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on which items of expenditure managed by his Department savings are made when the value of the pound increases in relation to the euro; and what level of savings have been generated in this way since the introduction of the euro. [134025]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 23 October 2000]: Where the value of the pound increases in relation to the euro, this decreases support to farmers under the CAP, but it is impossible to isolate savings that may have been generated solely by currency fluctuations. Many other influences affect expenditure on agriculture, including world prices and climate.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Chancellor of the Exchequer has sought his Department's advice on the optimum exchange rate for Britain's membership of the single currency. [134023]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 23 October 2000]: The rate at which sterling would enter the single currency would need to be consistent with economic fundamentals in the UK and compatible with sustainable convergence between the UK and the euro economies. This was the basis for the decision on the conversion rates of currencies which joined in the first wave.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which items of expenditure managed by his Department are directly dependent on the exchange rate between the pound and the euro. [134026]
381W
§ Mr. Nick BrownAll CAP payments may be affected by currency fluctuations.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assumptions the Government have made on the pound-euro exchange rate in setting budgets for expenditure managed by his Department. [134027]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 23 October 2000]: Assumptions underpinning Government decisions about expenditure were set out in the Spending Review 2000.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what assessment his Department has made of the impact of joining the single currency on British agriculture; [134019]
(2) what assessment he has made of the net advantages and disadvantages to British farmers of joining the single currency at the present time; [134018]
(3) what priority the Government places on the needs of agriculture in deciding whether and when to join the single currency. [134020]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 23 October 2000]: The determining factor underpinning any Government decision on membership of the single currency is whether the economic case for the UK joining is clear and unambiguous on the basis of the Government's five economic tests. The Government have said that they will produce another assessment of the five economic tests early in the next Parliament.