§ Sir Frederic Bennettasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will provide 434W a table showing the comparable costs of energy and fuel taking into account any relevant subsidies supplied to the fishing fleets of the nine European Economic Community countries.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe latest available comparable figures are the following, which were published last August by the European Commission using information supplied by member States. The figures are net of tax and duty. Greece is not included since it was not then a member of the Community.
EUAI'000 litres (approx £ equivalent) Belgium 198 124 Denmark 210 131 France 210 131 Germany 186–217 116–136 Ireland 247 154 Italyf 207 129 Netherlands 199–207 124–129 United Kingdom 180–286 112–179 The United Kingdom figures represent the extreme prices at which fuel oil may be offered; while we have no information on which to calculate an average, it is thought that most fuel is sold at prices in the lower half of this range. During 1980 fuel subsidies were offered in France, where they amounted on average to about 6 per cent. of fuel costs, and in Italy.