§ Mr. Trippierasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he has made with the case for extension of the United Kingdom's less favoured areas; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Minster of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the final United Kingdom submission and formal application on the marginal land issue has been sent from London to the European Economic Community; and on what date it was sent.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerFollowing the recent discussions which my officials have had with the European Commission, I am pleased to say that today we formally submitted a case for an extension of the United Kingdom's less favoured areas by more than 1 million hectares of marginal land in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. This extension will require the agreement of the Council of Ministers and at this stage I cannot say how long it will take to secure that agreement.