§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Prime Minister, pursuant to her statement of 8 December, if it remains the position of Her Majesty's Government that the United Kingdom's rebate entitlement under the Fontainebleau agreement of June 1984 is secured, irrespective of any increases in expenditure of the Community, by the arrangement to deduct the appropriate sums of rebate from the United Kingdom's value added tax contribution; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterYes. The Community has an obligation enshrined in a document of treaty status to make available to the United Kingdom abatements of VAT calculated according to the Fontainebleau formula. As my hon. Friend is aware, the Community budgetary process means that the figures may need to be corrected several times before the true entitlement is reached. The238W normal method of making these corrections is by supplementary budgets, and a refusal by the United Kingdom to agree to such a supplementary budget could lead to a delay in the uprating of our abatement. It could not affect the final entitlement.