§ Sir Patrick McNair-WilsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish details of the amount of agricultural land currently being taken out of cultivation under the EC set-aside policy in each of the member countries.
§ Mr. CurryThe latest information available to this Department on the amount of land currently set aside in EC countries is set out. This covers only the voluntary five-year set-aside scheme which was introduced in 1988 and which is now closed to new entrants. New set-aside arrangements come into effect on 15 December, but it is not possible at this stage to say how much land will be set aside in 1992–93.
Estimated area of land in five year set-aside scheme Hectares United Kingdom 150,854 Germany (excluding former GDR) 367,977 Netherlands 29,606 Belgium 873 France 266,575 Ireland 1,766 Spain 84,087 Greece 250 Italy 608,705 Luxembourg 90 Denmark 5,520 Total 1,516,303 Notes: Includes 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 intakes into the five year set-aside scheme except for Greece—1989 only—Denmark—1990 only—and Spain and Italy—1991 not available. United Kingdom figures exclude 1991 withdrawals from 1988 intake. Former GDR land entered in the scheme in 1990 and 1991 estimated at 704,083 hectares.