§ Mr. Marlowasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has that interest subsidies to Continental farmers are broadly equivalent to the capital grants available within United Kingdom agriculture; and if he will give a comparison between the United Kingdom regime and that of France.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerInformation is examined annually by my Department, and this indicates that interest subsidies to continental farmers are broadly equivalent to the capital grants available in the United Kingdom. I am, of course, pressing for action by the Commission in relation to certain French national aids.
§ Mr. Marlowasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the various subsidies that are being offered to French turkey producers and how they effect the cost of production per turkey.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithA range of incentives are available to encourage certain investments in France, including investments in turkey processing. In addition to regional development grants, they include aids for processing agricultural products, certain tax concessions, interest rate subsidies and training grants. The effect of these aids in the turkey sector, which the Commission is investigating, is to facilitate increases in processing capacity and to reduce capital and operating costs per bird.
At the production level, French turkey producers stood to benefit under the income aid package announced by the French Government in December, which is also currently under investigation by the Commission.