§ Mr. Warrenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made since November 1984 in the implementation of dairy quotas by member states of the European Economic Community; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JoplingPayments of the first instalments of supplementary levy were due to be made on 15 November 1984. It became clear, however, that certain member states were not yet ready to charge the levy and as a result the Commission deferred the first collection date for one month. At the December meeting of the Agriculture Council nine member states (with Denmark abstaining) adopted a statement noting that there were still technical and administrative difficulties concerning the application of the system in certain member states and inviting the Commission to allow postponement of the first payment of levy until the end of the marketing year.
The Commission did not make any proposals to this effect. The United Kingdom and certain other member states therefore decided to suspend action on the collection of the levy until all member states were conforming to the requirements and collection could proceed in parallel. The Commission withheld from the December advances to member states for agricultural expenditure amounts equivalent to their estimated levy liability. They also withheld 12½ per cent. of milk sector advances in January for those member states which had failed to collect levy due in December and, in addition, issued letters initiating infringement proceedings against those member states. The Commission have also initiated infringement proceedings against Italy for her failure to make the required implementing arrangements and against Denmark concerning its arrangements for operating the supplementary levy through a single purchasing agency for milk.
At the January meeting of the Agriculture Council, the Commissioner presented a package of proposals for amendments to the supplementary levy which was designed to overcome some of the problems experienced by member states in implementing the quota system. These included, inter alia, proposals which would permit greater flexibility between direct sales and wholesale quotas and a proposal which, for 1984–85 would permit transfer of unused quota between regions and thereby reduce the amounts of levy due. These proposals were debated in the House on Wednesday 20 February and are due to be considered by the Agriculture Council on 25–26 February. The Commission has also provided for a delay of 20 days in collection of the levy for the third quarter which was due in mid-February.
The Government remain fully committed to the supplementary levy arrangements. We welcome the Commission's proposals which will help member states to overcome various difficulties in implementing the levy and permit some easing of its impact in the first year. We shall, however, continue to insist, as we have done from the outset, that the levy must be fully and effectively implemented by all member states.