§ Mr. GillTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the net cost of contributions to the European Community, per head of population, in each country for each of the past five years.
§ Mr. MaudeThe European Commission does not publish information on member states' net balances in respect of the European Community budget. The latest information available is contained in the European Court of Auditors' report for 1990; this gives information on member states' gross contributions and information on some 85 per cent. of receipts, with administration and research the main elements of internal expenditure excluded. Using this incomplete information, member states' net contributions per head for the last five years for which information is available were as follows. Net recipients are shown as negative.
ecu per head 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 Belgium +29 +73 +101 +113 +77 Denmark -82 -58 -64 -34 -82 Germany +61 +79 +99 +105 +88 Greece -128 -154 -149 -202 -244 Spain -2 -7 -23 -47 -44 France +10 +11 +32 +52 +32 Ireland -347 -311 -328 -381 -540 Italy +3 -1 +19 +4 +7 Luxembourg +160 +165 +180 +171 +157 Netherlands -15 -36 -78 -76 -25 Portugal -21 -38 -50 -63 -58 United Kingdom +25 +46 +36 +59 +59 Note: Although the table shows Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy (except for 1987) as net contributors in each year, none is likely to have been when receipts excluded from the Court of Auditors' Report are taken into account.