§ Mr. Martenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the EEC proposals for the introduction of the new European unit of account, and in particular the extra cost to the United Kingdom of such a proposal and on how it would affect the forecasts in the White Paper, Command Paper No. 6721, page 9, for the years therein mentioned.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe Commission proposed, in 1976, that with effect from 1st January 1978 the European unit of account should replace the present unit of account in the legal Acts adopted by the Institutions of the European Communities The Commission has also prepared the preliminary draft budget of the European Communities, which was sent to the Council of 15th June, in the European unit of account.
Her Majesty's Government have made it clear that we would agree to the introduction of the European unit of account only if it were done in such a way that the United Kingdom contribution to the 20W Community budget would not be increased as a result The Commission's proposed method of calculating the United Kingdom's contribution, in the event of a change, meets this condition and is acceptable to Her Majesty's Government However, it has not yet been accepted by all the other member States.