§ Mr. Moateasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on the basis employed for official forecasts made during the 1975 referendum campaign, what has been the percentage overall rise in food prices in the United Kingdom since the United Kingdom's membership of the EEC; and how much of that increase is attributable to EEC membership.
§ Mr. BishopBetween February 1973 and December 1976 the index of retail food prices increased by about 108 per cent. I regret that we cannot assess the contribution to this increase arising from our membership of the European Community because of the difficulty of predicting how food prices would have changed had we remained outside.
§ Mr. Moateasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the effect on the retail food price index of moving to full CAP 826W prices, assuming no change either on common prices or in the green pound.
§ Mr. BishopThe effect of the remaining transitional steps on retail food prices cannot be accurately predicted because it depends on a number of factors, including the extent to which market prices are influenced by institutional prices and the costs of processing and distribution. But assuming the remaining transitional price increases are fully reflected at retail level they might lead to an increase of up to 2 per cent.
§ Mr. Moateasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he intends to prolong the transitional period for aligning United Kingdom food prices with Community prices; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BishopThe transitional period is laid down under the Treaty of Accession, which provides that transitional measures should terminate at the end of 1977 and that common prices should be applied by 1st January 1978. The Treaty does not provide for any extension of this period.