§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if the agreement made at the Fontainebleau Council of Ministers placed any restriction on the timing of the approval by the Parliaments of member states of the increase in own resources as a precondition to the payment of the £600 million rebate for 1984; and if the position has altered in any respect following the decisions of subsequent meetings of the Council of Ministers:
(2) what estimate he has made of the amount by which Britain's net contribution to the European Economic Community in future years under the Fontainebleau arrangements will be increased or decreased if the proposal by the European Economic Community Commission dated 21 February to exclude from allocated expenditure a number of items in addition to the exclusion of development aid is adopted; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what estimate he has made of the amount of the United Kingdom rebate under the Fontainebleau formula which will be delayed until the next year in consequence of the proposal by the European Economic Community Commission dated 21 February to base the United Kingdom's abatement on a provisional or preliminary calculation; and if he will make a statement;
(4) if he will list in the Official Report the various items of expenditure by the European Economic Community which the Commission proposes in its communication dated 21 February should be excluded from allocated expenditure in addition to development aid in reaction to the calculation of the United Kingdom's abatement under the Fontainebleau arrangements; and if it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government that a detailed and comprehensive list of such items should be determined before the final own resources decision is approved by the Council of Ministers;
(5) what estimates he has made as to how the net payment to be made by the United Kingdom to the European Economic Community for 1985 and the years immediately following on the basis of a value added tax contribution of 1.4 per cent. will compare with the actual net payment made by the United Kingdom in 1984 and the years immediately before on the basis of a 1 per cent. value added tax payment; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Ian StewartI shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.