§ Mr. Skeetasked the Lord Privy Seal whether Her Majesty's Government will protest to the Dutch Government over the posture adopted by the Dutch agricultural commodity board in either failing or refusing 388W to comply with a European Commission decree requiring the gas price charged to horticultural growers to be aligned with that paid by industry generally.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI have been asked to reply.
I have taken every opportunity to make it clear to the Netherlands Government and to the European Commission that the United Kingdom Government expect urgent action to be taken to end the preferential tariff for natural gas supplied to growers in the Netherlands. At the Council of Agriculture Ministers on 19 January 1982 I pressed the Commission for a clear statement at next month's Council on the measures it intends to take to resolve this matter.