HC Deb 02 February 1987 vol 109 c538W
Mr. Foulkes

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much in pounds million the European Economic Community budget was altered during the British Presidency.

Mr. Brooke

At the beginning of the United Kingdom Presidency the Community budget was the subject of a legal dispute. Following the ruling of the European Court of Justice on 4 July that the budget procedure was incomplete, an agreed budget was adopted on 10 July containing expenditure totalling £21,853 million. Full details are given in the statement on the 1986 Community Budget Council, Cmnd. 9907. This budget was not amended during the remainder of the British Presidency.

The budget procedure for 1987 was not complete at the end of the United Kingdom Presidency since the Parliament voted to exceed the maximum rate of increase for non-obligatory expenditure as laid down under the treaty. The Council of Ministers was not prepared to agree to this.