HC Deb 15 June 1977 vol 933 cc201-2W
Mr. Teddy Taylor

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is the estimated total size of the EEC budget in the current year; and what percentage of the total will be contributed by each member State;

(2) what estimate has been made of the total sums to be disbursed by the EEC in the current year; and what percentage of these disbursements will accrue to each member State;

(3) if he will provide details of the payments which the United Kingdom will make to, and receive from, the EEC in the current year; and if, in particular, he will provide separate figures for the Regional Fund.

Mr. Joel Barnett

The total size of the Community budget for 1977, including the supplementary budget currently under consideration by the Council of Ministers, amounts to 9,330 million units of account. At the conversion rate for the budget unit of account used for the Budget of £1=2.4 ua, the sterling equivalent of this sum is approximately £3,888 million. The percentage contributed by each member State will be as follows:

per cent.
Belgium … 5.95
Denmark … 2.31
France … 20.14
Germany … 26.69
Ireland … 0.61
Italy … 16.71
Luxembourg … 0.14
Netherlands … 8.56
United Kingdom … 19.24

The United Kingdom contribution to, and receipts from, the Community budget is 1977, as published in "The Government's Expenditure Plans" (Cmnd. 6721– II) are estimated at:

£ million
contribution … 725
receipts … 295
net contribution … 430

The estimated contribution in 1977 does not correspond to the United Kingdom's relative share of the 1977 budget since, under the rules governing Community financial transactions, some budgetary provision is carried forward and expenditure actually takes place in a later financial year than that to which it relates. United Kingdom payments in 1977 will therefore be partly to meet expenditure from the 1977 budget and partly to meet expenditure carried forward from earlier years.

The United Kingdom is entitled to receive up to 27.8 per cent. of payments from the Regional Development Fund. The provision for the fund included in the 1977 Budget amounts to 400 million units of account—£167 million approximately. Since the timing of actual payment cannot be forecast with any certainty, it is not possible to estimate precisely the amount that the United Kingdom will actually receive in 1977.

Information on which to base an estimate of receipts by member States other than the United Kingdom from the Community budget is not available.