HC Deb 23 January 1973 vol 849 cc61-2W
29. Mr. Deakins

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the 1973 EEC budget will be used for agricultural purposes.

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the EEC Budget in 1973 will be used for agricultural purposes.

Mr. Higgins

About 73 per cent.

30. Mr. Spearing

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated sum due to be paid in 1973 to the EEC in respect of VAT.

Mr. Higgins

Nil.

Mr. Jay

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of total expenditure from the EEC Budget in 1973, and of the United Kingdom contribution; and how these estimates com- pare with those given in the White Paper "The United Kingdom and the European Communities" of July 1971.

Mr. Nott

The Community Budget for 1973, as approved by the Council of Ministers, amounts to 4,245 million units of account, namely, about £1,770 million at the declared parity. To arrive at an estimate of our actual gross contribution to the Budget, a number of adjustments have to be made to this figure, as explained in the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Edward Taylor) on 19th December. Using the price basis of the White Paper "Public Expenditure to 1976–77" (Cmnd. 5178), our gross contribution is estimated at £125 million and our net contribution, after allowing for receipts of £60 million, at £65 million.

In comparing the latest estimates with those in the July 1971 White Paper I explained in answer to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart, that the estimate of the size of the Budget, allowing for the different price basis, compares very closely. As to the United Kingdom net contribution, it will be less than the July 1971 estimate, as the following figures show:

£ million
July 1971 July 1971 revalued to the same basis as latest estimates Latest Estimates
100 106 65

For further details, I would refer the right hon. Member to the tables in paragraph 4 on page 26 of Cmnd. 5178.—[Vol. 848 c. 315–6.]

Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the total cost to the United Kingdom balance of payments in 1973 of membership of the EEC.

Mr. Nott

As the Government have always made clear, quantitative estimates cannot sensibly be made of the overall balance of payments effects of membership of the EEC.

Mr. Deakins

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total cost of the EEC budget for 1973 in £ sterling on the basis of the current rate of exchange.

Mr. Nott

The 1973 EEC Budget is not costed on the basis of the current rate of exchange for sterling.