§ Lord Mottistoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the United Kingdom has received its VAT abatement in respect of payments into the European Community Budget.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)The European Community 1986 Budget provides for an automatic abatement of the UK's VAT payments of 1,400 million ecus (£900 million) in respect of 1985. As VAT contributions are made monthly and the abatement is made by reducing these contributions in equal monthly amounts, 580 mecu (£375 million) of this abatement has already been made available, and a further 820 mecu will be made available between now and the end of the year. The Commission has also said that it will be proposing as part of a supplementary budget this year an additional correction to our 1985 abatement to cover the difference between the estimate of the amount owing to us and the actual amount.