§ Lord Swinfenasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the conclusions of the Brussels European Council on the future financing of the European Community have now been translated into legally binding documents.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Glenarthur)Yes. Following the agreement reached by the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 13th-14th June, the Council and the European Parliament reached agreement at a special Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 20th June on the texts implementing the conclusions of the European Council in February on the future financing of the Community. This opened the way to their formal adoption, which took place at the Industry Council on 24th June. The documents have been placed in the Library of the House.
The only text finalised but not yet formally adopted is the directive on the harmonisation of GNP statistics. It has been unanimously agreed by the Council. Because the new own resources decision will form part of its legal base, however, it can only be adopted formally when the new own resources decision has been ratified by all member states.
The own resources decision and the intergovernmental agreement to provide supplementary finance for the 1988 budget were published on 30th June as Command Papers (Cmnd. 419 and Cmnd. 418). A Bill to seek approval for the new decision, and for making payments under the IGA, was presented in another place on 1st July.