Mr. Tom Ellisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the United Kingdom's contribution to the EEC's Agricultural Fund in 1976; what were its receipts from the Fund; what further expenditure was made from the fund in respect of monetary subsidies on British food imports from other EEC members; and what are the estimated figures for each of these items for 1977.
§ Mr. BishopThe United Kingdom contributes to the Communities Budget as a whole and not to its individual parts. The United Kingdom contribution is at a rate of 16.3 per cent. to the 1976 Budget and of 19.24 per cent. to the 1977 Budget. Provision for the EAGGF in the 1976 Budget amounted to 6162 mua—£2,568 million. Provision in the 1977 Budget was 6576 mua—£2,740 million—and in addition the Commission has presented a Supplementary Budget which, if adopted, would increase 1977 appropriations for EAGGF expenditure by 482 mua—£201 million.
United Kingdom receipts from the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF in 1976 were £195 million. United Kingdom claims in 1976 for Guidance Section expenditure on Common and Special Measures totalled £17 million. The Commission committed about £11 million in 668W fresh fruit by 102 per cent. There is no CAP régime for tea, coffee, potatoes and certain fruits and vegetables. Retail prices for liquid milk are set by the Government. I regret I cannot estimate the contribution to price increases from the application of the CAP separately from that of the many other factors affecting food prices.
Following is the information:
1976 from the Guidance Section to beneficiaries in the United Kingdom as part of the Individual Projects Scheme.
Forecasts based on the calendar year 1977 are not available, but in the Supply Estimates presented to Parliament for the financial year 1977–78 estimated United Kingdom receipts from all Guidance Section measures totalled about £25 million. These estimates also show estimated United Kingdom receipts from the Guarantee Section of about £138 million, but this figures does not take into account receipts from certain Guarantee Section measures for which no more than a token estimate could be made.
Information on the further expenditure made in respect of United Kingdom food imports from other member States is not available from Community sources since EEC Budget appropriations for monetary compensatory amounts do not diferentiate between payments to different member States. In respect of 1976 our own calculations suggest that such expenditure might have been in the order of £150 million.