§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what date he received a reply from the Commission of the European Community following the Government's representations on the extension of less favoured areas; when the information previously requested by the European Community was sent to it; and when any meeting has subsequently taken place.
§ Mrs. FennerReceipt of the United Kingdom's proposals for extending our less favoured areas, which were formally submitted to the European Commission on 13 December, was acknowledged by the Commission on 7 February. Additional information sought by the Commission in that communication was supplied on 4 March. Since then there have been several meetings between officials, the last on 4 May, and further information has been supplied, most recently on 25 May, following which Commission officials gave an assurance that they had sufficient information to finalise the drafting of proposals to the Council of Ministers.