HC Deb 31 January 1989 vol 146 cc183-4W
Mr. Boswell

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give in tabular form the proportion of the beef production of each member state of the European Community which will not benefit from the recently agreed special beef premiums.

Mr. Donald Thompson

Precise information of the kind requested is not available. The Community special premium for beef will apply to the first 90 male animals per holding. An indication of the effect of the limitation of the premium to male animals only is provided by the table which shows the proportion of slaughterings of male and female cattle in each member state. The limitation to 90 head will also have an effect on uptake. This will depend on farm structure, decisions by farmers on how they manage their enterprises and market cattle and on the methods used to administer the premium.

Proportion of male cattle (steers and bulls) and female cattle (cows and heifers) slaughtered in each EC member state (1987)
Male animals (per cent.) Female animals (per cent.)
Belgium 40.4 59.6
Denmark 48.5 51.5
Germany 49.0 51.0
Greece 71.6 28.4
Spain 50.4 49.6
France 33.7 66.3
Ireland 55.0 45.0
Italy 70.4 29.6
Luxembourg 34.3 65.7
Netherlands 27.0 73.0
Portugal 50.1 49.9
United Kingdom 48.3 51.7
EC12 48.3 51.7

Source: EUROSTAT.