§ 64. Mr. Sedgemoreasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his assessment of the budgetary achievements of the European Economic Community in the past year.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweIn the last year, the Community has made progress in two important respects on the budget front. First, it has agreed on a lasting solution to the United Kingdom's budget problem and accepted in principle that any member State sustaining a similar inequitable budgetary burden may benefit from a correction. Secondly, it has agreed that the rigorous rules which govern budgetary policy in Member States shall also apply to Community spending, in particular by fixing each year a maximum level of expenditure for all Community 445W policies and ensuring that agricultural expenditure will increase by less than the rate of growth of the own resources base.