§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the cost of the common agricultural policy to UK taxpayers and consumers.
§ Mr. WaldegraveOn the basis of OECD analysis of the total cost of agricultural support within the EU, I estimate that the cost of the common agricultural policy to UK taxpayers and consumers is about £4 per person per week, if world prices are judged to be the same in the absence of the CAP. In practice, removal of agricultural support would reduce agricultural production and raise world prices. In this respect, that figure is therefore likely to overstate the true cost of the CAP.
I have placed in the Library of the House a note setting out the calculations underlying this estimate.