§ Mr. MarlowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether moneys paid through the EC cohesion fund in advance of ratification of the Maastricht treaty are repayable if the treaty is not ratified; and if he will set out the relevant text.
§ Sir John CopeThe EC cohesion fund envisaged by the Maastricht treaty cannot be established before the treaty has been ratified. Accordingly, the Edinburgh European Council invited the Council to adopt, before 1 April 1993, a regulation to establish an interim cohesion financial instrument, based on article 235 of the present treaty. Since the regulation is based on the present treaty, the question of repayment of expenditure incurred under the interim instrument, if the Maastricht treaty were not to be ratified, does not arise.