§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funds are available from the(a) EU and (b) UK Government to compensate agriculture in Britain for losses caused by the weakness of the euro; and how much has been paid, by categories, in each of the last three periods for which figures are available. [15403]
§ Mr. MorleyPayments of agrimonetary compensation are partially funded by the EU budget and partly from the UK Exchequer. The following table lists the amounts of compensation that became available from 1999 to 2001. Payments are shown against the year in which the compensation became available although payments are made in up to three annual instalments. It was compulsory for member states to pay the EU element of the compensation which became available in 1999. All subsequent compensation payments are optional.
£ million Compensation 1999 2000 2001 Total Available from the EU 396 226 183 805 Available from the UK 132 226 183 541 Total available 529 451 366 1,346 Paid by the EU 396 127 56 578 Paid by the UK 0 19 56 74 Total Paid 396 145 111 652