§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the cost in(a) 1994 and (b) 1995 of the increase in set-aside compensation for cereal growers by 12 ecu per tonne, agreed last May by EC Agriculture Ministers.
§ Mr. JackThe Commission has estimated that the increase in set-aside compensation will add 352 mecu—£267 million—to the Community's 1995 and subsequent budgets.
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will state(a) the price at which British wholesalers buy cereals per tonne, (b) what she estimates the price of cereals per tonne would be in a free market without European Community price intervention, (c) the levels of European Community production and consumption of cereals, (d) the level of common agricultural policy expenditure on cereal subsidies and (e) the cost to the British Exchequer of European Community intervention in the cereals market.
§ Mr. Jack(a) It is not possible to provide a single figure for the price of cereals in Britain per tonne which wholesalers have to pay. The following are average ex-farm prices for wheat and barley in pounds sterling per tonne.
(b) It is not possible to make precise estimates about what prices might result if there were no market support in the EC. A large number of assumptions would be required in order to assess how domestic and world markets would react if commodity policy were to be changed.
(c) The latest estimates for 1992–93 put cereal production at 166 million tonnes and consumption at 137 million tonnes.3
(d) Total EC cereals expenditure in the 1993 calendar year was £5,154 million.4
(e) The Exchequer cost of CAP support of cereals in the United Kingdom is estimated at £948 million for the 1993–94 financial year.5 The United Kingdom also contributes to the EC budget as a whole, which funds the cost of cereals support in other member states.
§ Mr. Jack(a) The first-hand delivered price of butter in the United Kingdom is between 62p and 79p per 250 g pack; (b) the price of butter on the world market fluctuates, but the current minimum price under the international dairy agreement is $1,350 per tonne; (c) production of butter in EC dairies was 1,636,000 tonnes in 1992 and is estimated to be 1,658,000 tonnes in 1993; consumption of butter in the EC was 1,591,000 tonnes in 1992 and is estimated to be 1,567,000 tonnes in 1993; (d) the 1993 provisional outturn of CAP expenditure on butter support in the European Community amounted to £1 billion; (e) the Exchequer cost of CAP support of butter in the United Kingdom is estimated at £67.5 million for the 1993–94 387W financial year. The United Kingdom also contributes to the EC budget as a whole, which funds the cost of butter support in other member states.