§ Mr. Jannerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on the current levels of butter stocks in the EEC; and what plans he has to reduce them.
§ Mr. GummerAt nearly 1.3 million tonnes, Community butter stocks are unacceptably high. The United Kingdom Government have consistently pressed for a policy of price restraint to bring supply and demand into better balance.
Responsibility for disposing of existing stocks ties with the European Commission, in consultation with member states, and there are currently a number of ideas under discussion.
Estimated production by European Community member state—Table 1 Butter 1985 '000 tonnes Ethyl Alcohol 1984* '000 hl pure alcohol Cereals 1985–86 '000 tonnes Potatoes 1984–85 '000 tonnes Germany 517 634 25,915 7,406 France 587 4,589 55,976 6,964 Italy 78 2,914 17,065 2,467 Netherlands 260 626 1,136 6,773 Belgium 99 93 2,090 1,648 Luxembourg 8 1 113 1,648 United Kingdom 202 418 22,104 7,310 Ireland 161 106 2,193 844 Denmark 110 120 7,979 1,009 Greece 4 320 4,318 976 * Or marketing year ending in 1984. Source: CRONOS; Commission.