HC Deb 23 March 1979 vol 964 cc797-8W
Mr. Welsh

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has of the costs likely to be incurred by the United Kingdom dairy industry should the EEC's proposed co-responsibility levy be implemented; and if he has comparable figures for other EEC countries.

Mr. Bishop

It is not possible to estimate precisely the effect of the proposed co-responsibility levy since the Commission has not yet made any proposal on the levy rate that would be applied in the initial period of application of the levy from 1 June 1979.

Mr. Welsh

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give figures showing the numbers of farmers in each EEC country who have taken up the facilities offered by the non-marketing scheme for dairy cows, the costs and the average size of farm involved.

Mr. Bishop

The numbers of applicants whose applications had been approved up to 31 December 1978 are as follows:

Belgium … 1,438
Denmark … 2,806
Germany … 36,083
France … 9,242
Ireland … 379
Luxembourg … 262
Netherlands … 1,864
United Kingdom … 2,909
The scheme is not operative in Italy. No information is available on the average size of farm involved, for individual countries, or on the costs. The EECs latest budget for the scheme, covering total expenditure up to 1984, is 1,013.1 million units of account.