§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current annual expenditure incurred by Her Majesty's Government on items relating to agriculture which were, prior to 1979, financed in part or whole by the European Economic Community; and if he will specify the nature of the functions involved.
§ Mr. MacGregor[holding answer 21 June 1988]All the costs of operations in the United Kingdom under the CAP 743W are ultimately borne by the United Kingdom, either directly or via our contribution to the EC budget. Estimates for United Kingdom expenditure in 1987–88 on CAP schemes which are fully or partly-funded by the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund (EAGGF) are given in the table.
For the guarantee section, all the schemes listed were in operation prior to 1979, although Community reimbursement for intervention costs was reduced by 25 per cent. of the standard amounts fixed for this purpose only with effect from December 1985. Community funding for guarantee section expenditure was also reduced in 1987–88 by the introduction of a two-month delay in advances from the EAGGF. As a result of this, funding for expenditure in February and March 1988 was not received until the 1988–89 financial year.
For the guidance section, most of the schemes listed, or their predecessors, were in operation prior to 1979. It would not be practical to provide figures which exclude all those schemes which did not exist before 1979.
Total expenditure £ million EAGGF funding £ million Guarantee section Fully-funded by the EAGGF Internal subsidy schemes 557 413 External trade measures 521 458 Intervention purchasing (including EAGGF receipts for financing costs) (losses on sale fully reimbursed when produce sold) 113 208 Partly-funded by the EAGGF Storage and technical costs of intervention 96 41 Beef variable premium scheme 136 44 Suckler cow premium scheme 36 19 Guidance section Farm capital grants (part European Community-funded schemes) 76 114 Support for agriculture in less-favoured areas (hill livestock compensatory amounts and additional benefits under capital grants schemes) 131 127 Other 13 12 1 Reimbursement for eligible expenditure incurred in 1986.