HC Deb 02 November 1988 vol 139 cc649-50W
Mr. Ralph Howell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the amount of United Kingdom expenditure on the EEC as a percentage of United Kingdom gross domestic product; and what equivalent information he has about such expenditure by other EEC countries in relation to their respective gross domestic products.

Mr. Brooke

I have been asked to reply.

Based on member states' gross contributions (after abatement) in the 1988 budget (as amended), expenditure as a percentage of estimated GNP for each country is as follows:

Member states Percentage GNP
Belgium 1.47
Denmark 1.11
Germany 1.16
Greece 0.98
Spain 1.17
France 1.20
Ireland 1.43
Italy 0.99
Luxembourg 1.09
Netherlands 1.47
Portugal 1.34
United Kingdom 0.80

Source: European Commission documents.

The autum statement contains an estimate of our net payments to Community institutions in 1988–89 of £950 million. This is around 0.2 per cent. of United Kingdom GNP. Information on other member states' net contributions is not readily available.