§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table in the Official Report showing what the maximum level of spending under the European Economic Community budget would be for agriculture, assuming that total spending under the budget reaches the new maximum under the value added tax contribution, that the outturn for the current year is the same as the agreed provision for agriculture to the extent that this is relevant and that value added tax and other collections are the same as budgeted for in the current year, apart from the percentage increase from 1 per cent. to 1.4 per cent.
§ Mr. Ian StewartIn accordance with article 4 of the Council conclusions on budget discipline the financial guideline for agriculture which will first apply for 1986 is calculated by reference to agricultural expenditure in 1984 and 1985 and to the rate of growth of the own resources base. The Commission has calculated, on the basis of provisional estimates of these variables, that the financial guideline for 1986 will be 20.65 billion ecu. This figure will be subject to some change as revised estimates and then outturn data become available.
The financial guideline figure is not affected by the proposed increase in the VAT ceiling from 1 to 1.4 per 85W cent. because, in accordance with article 2 of the Council conclusions on budget discipline, the increase in the own resources base is assessed on a comparable basis from one year to the next.