§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer where the special payment made by the United Kingdom to the European Economic Community of £670,000,000 in respect of overspending by the Community appears in the table indicating the outturn of Community payments in page 1 of Cm. 603, published in January 1988.
§ Mr. Brooke[holding answer 7 February 1989]: The 1988 intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between 753W member states of the European Community made provisions about supplementary finance for the 1988 Community budget. As I informed the House on 23 November 1988, Official Report, columns 1–2, the United Kingdom has paid a contribution of some £613 million (929 mecu) under the IGA. This contribution (£619 million at the exchange rate used for the projection published in Cm. 603 in January 1989) is included in the gross payment of £5,213 million shown on page 1 of Cm. 603: table 3.1, 1988–89 estimated outturn column. As explained in paragraph 6 of Cm. 603 the IGA also provided for a monetary reserve of 1,000 mecu (some £670 million) to which all member states would have contributed, but this was not activated in 1988. Therefore no payment was made by the United Kingdom in respect of this reserve.