§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a revised table of the estimated outturn of the United Kingdom's net contribution to the European Economic Community in 1987–88, in the light of the decisions of the February European Council; and if he will identify the changes of policy which relate to the change in this estimate by comparison with the £1,400 million referred to on page 33 of the public expenditure White Paper.
§ Mr. BrookeThe revised table is set out. It shows that the provisional outturn for our net payments to Community institutions in 1987–88 is £1,649 million. The increase compared with the White Paper estimate arose because the White Paper assumed the 1988 budget would be adopted before the end of the 1987–88 financial year, whereas in the event the Community had to operate on provisional twelfths until the budget's adoption on 1 June. This meant higher VAT contributions and a smaller abatement (that is abatement at the rate in the 1987 budget and not at the much higher rate in the 1988 one) during the last quarter of 1987–88.
million £1 Gross payments 4,906 Public sector receipts -1,958 VAT abatements -1,137 Net contribution to EC budget 1,811 Contributions to EIB 10 ECSC grants -58 Payments to EC budget attributed to the aid programme -114 Net payments to EC institutions 1,649 1 Provisional outturn.