HL Deb 01 August 1978 vol 395 cc1283-5WA
Lord O'HAGAN

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will explain the manner in which they are implementing Directives 72/271/EEC and 75/268/EEC; which parts of the Less Favoured Area Directives are not being implemented and why; whether other Member States have interpreted these Directives in a more comprehensive manner; and what plans Her Majesty's Government have prepared to modify their attitude to these directives in order to prevent loss of benefits to British taxpayers and farmers.

Lord STRABOLGI

Directive 75/268/EEC on mountain and hill farming and farming in certain less-favoured areas is implemented through the following schemes of assistance to upland and hill farmers:

  1. (a) Annual compensatory allowances for hill livestock (Articles 5–7);
  2. (b) Additional grant in respect of investment under the EEC-backed Farm and Horticulture Development Scheme (Articles 8–10) and under the national Farm Capital Grant Scheme (Article 12); and
  3. (c) Grants to forage, groups under the Agriculture and Horticulture Co-operation Scheme (Article 11) for fodder production equipment and tractors.

Twenty five per cent. of eligible United Kingdom expenditure is reimbursed from FEOGA. A secondary provision of the Directive would allow aid to be given for investment on farms for tourist or craft industry purposes but is not adopted since the Tourist Boards exist as designated bodies for supporting the tourist industry, and the Development Commission and COSIRA for rural industry. The criteria of the Directive for determining less-favoured farming areas and the maximum limits to aid are common to all Members of the EEC, and the United Kingdom makes extensive use of the provisions. Our area of land declared as less favoured areas is 7.6 million hectares, or some 41 per cent. of our total land. France has a larger area of less favoured area land (as contained in Directive 75/271/EEC—which I think is the other Directive to which the noble Lord meant to refer), but this constitutes some 35 per cent. of their total land. The United Kingdom's claim for FEOGA reimbursement in 1977 amounted to £12.8 million, representing over 47 per cent. of the total claim by member states under the Directive, compared with the next highest (France) of 24 per cent. The Government wish to make continued effective use of Directive 75/268/EEC and are seeking some changes of detail in its provisions in the course of the present review proceeding in Brussels of the structure Directives as a whole.