§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the European Union Budget Council, held on 17 November listing all votes and all decisions which were determined by unanimity or without dissension. [435]
§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory[holding answer 20 November 1995]: I represented the United Kingdom at the Budget Council on 17 November. The Council considered the European Parliament's proposed changes to the draft budget, which the Council established in July—on which I reported in my reply to the hon. Member for Southport (Mr. Banks) on 18 October 1995, Official Report, columns 278–80—and it established a Second Reading draft budget for 1996.
The Council's Second Reading draft budget totals 86,288 mecu, £72,578 million, in commitment appropriations and 81,603 mecu, £68,637 million, in payment appropriations. The Second Reading draft budget is 316 mecu, £266 million, in commitments and 589 mecu, £495 million, in payments below the financial perspective ceilings and is within the existing own resources ceiling of 1.20 per cent. The following table compares the outcome of the Budget Council with the proposals in the Commissions's preliminary draft budget and with the proposals in the European Parliament's draft budget, with reference to the financial perspective ceilings:
items agreed at the meeting of the European Community's ECOFIN Council held on 23 October; and if he will make it his practice to include details of all votes, including where there have been no votes, in the future. [440]
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[holding answer 20 November 1995]: There were no votes taken on items under discussion at the ECOFIN Council on 23 October.
In the future, as is my practice, after each ECOFIN Council I will report the result of votes and will indicate if no votes were taken.
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