§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what sums were made available to(a) UK and (b) EU companies for the restitution of funds to assist with exporting costs in each of the last three years. [147051]
§ Alun MichaelDuring the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 the Rural Payments Agency paid approximately £125.4 million, £138.7 million and £170.2 million respectively in export refunds to companies claiming in the United Kingdom.
For the whole of the European Union, payments made during 2000 and 2001 amounted to 5.6 billion euros and €3.4 billion respectively. The figure for 2003 is not yet available.