HC Deb 19 December 1972 vol 848 cc315-6W
52. Mr. Edward Taylor

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the British contributions to, and receipts from, the European Economic Community Budget in 1973 on the assumption that the exchange rate for the pound sterling is fixed at its present international value.

Mr. Nott

The estimates of Community Budget contributions and receipts in the Public Expenditure White Paper, to be laid before Parliament today, were prepared using the declared sterling parity. While any change in the fixed parity would adjust the figures, any particular calculation such as my hon. Friend asks would be hypothetical.

53. Mr. Edward Taylor

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why he agreed to the European Economic Community Budget figure of £1,850 million for 1973 having regard to the fact that the White Paper, Command Paper No. 4715, estimated that the Budget would be £1,400 million in 1973 and would rise to only £1,600 million by 1977.

Mr. Nott

The Community budget for 1973, as finally adopted, totals about 4,250 million units of account (£1,770 million). The figure of £1,850 million relates to an earlier draft of the Budget, before it was agreed that certain agricultural expenditure should be transferred to a supplementary 1972 budget.

To obtain a true comparison with the estimate in Command 4715 of a budget of £1,400 million on which our actual contribution would be based, a number of factors have to be taken into account. The total of 4,250 million units of account includes 170 million units of account which will be financed by the original member States, 47 million units of account which will be covered by miscellaneous receipts, and 250 million units of account for repayments to member States in respect of collection costs of levies and duties. This produces a figure of 3,783 million units of account at mid-1973 prices, equivalent to £1,576 million using an exchange rate of £1=2.4 units of account.

Allowing for the different price basis, this compares very closely with the Command 4715 estimate of £1,400 million at 1971–72 prices.