HC Deb 09 February 1979 vol 962 cc333-4W
Mr. Kenneth Clarke

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the increase in the British quota for grants from the European regional development fund if the European Parliament's EEC budget for 1979 is followed instead of that preferred by the Council of Ministers.

Mr. Joel Barnett

For the quota section of the European regional development fund the United Kingdom quota is some 27 per cent. of commitment appropriations and, on the assumption in the question, the United Kingdom would receive an additional 103 million European units of account—MEUA—(about £69 million) in commitment appropria- tions out of the increase in the quota section of 380 MEUA proposed by the European Assembly in the 1979 Community Budget.

The United Kingdom would also be eligible for additional receipts from the provision of 100 MEUA for the non-quota section, but it is not possible to estimate the size of these receipts because, unlike the quota section, no fixed shares are laid down for the non-quota section.