§ Mr. Pavittasked the Lord Privy Seal why the United Kingdom contribution for 1981 to the European Economic Community exceeds the contribution paid by France by 173.3 million ECUS.
§ Sir Ian GilmourGross contributions to the Community budget are made up of three elements—agricultural levies, Customs duties and the product of a specified rate of VAT levied on a Community harmonised basis. Our VAT contribution in 1981 will be over 600 million ecu—£377.6 million at 1981 budget rate £1 = 1.59 ecu—lower than France's. The amounts of actual payments of the other two items may turn out to be different from the estimates in the 1981 budget, but our estimated payments are higher than those of France.
This is because the Customs duties and most of the levies are charged on imports from countries outside the Community. We are less self-sufficient in food than France, and for certain products we have long-standing arrangements with traditional suppliers outside the Community. The explanation for the different levels of Customs duties is that we have larger imports of manufactured goods than France and more of these come from outside the Community.