§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the total cost of the common agricultural policy in 2002 to British taxpayers through payments of (a) indirect subsidies to British producers via the European Union budget; (b) direct subsidies to producers in other European Union countries via the European Union budget. [HL1951]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey)Data published by the European Commission show that the European Union spent 43.5 billion euros (£27.3 billion) on the common agricultural policy in 2002. Of this, UK farmers were paid 4 billion euros (£2.5 billion).
The UK contributes to the EC budget as a whole, not to specific policies. In 2002, the UK's gross contribution to the EC budget, after abatement, was 10.1 billion euros (£6.3 billion). The UK's net contribution—that is, after deducting pubic sector receipts (which includes CAP receipts)—was 5.8 billion euros (£3.6 billion).