Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has as to what proportion of gross domestic product each of the member countries of the European Community devotes to overseas development; and what is the average for the European Community Countries as a whole.
§ Mr. Chris PattenPrecise figures are only available for the eight European Community countries which belong to the OECD development assistance committee (DAC) and in respect to gross national product (GNP). According to the DAC chairman's 1987 report "Development Cooperation" the figures for 1986 are as follows:
Net official development assistance (oda) As percentage of GNP Belgium 0.49 Denmark 0.89 France 0.72 Germany 0.43 Ireland 0.28 Italy 0.40 Netherlands 1.01 United Kingdom 0.32 The net official development assistance of these eight countries represents 0.51 per cent. of their combined GNP.