§ Sir John StanleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the net EU budget contributions for each member state in 1995 and their estimated contributions in 1996, indicating the sources of his figures. [7677]
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 5 December 1996]: The table sets out indicative figures for 1995. These are drawn from the European Court of Auditors' information on member states' total financial contributions to and receipts from the Community budget published this November in the "Annual Report covering the financial year 1995". The net contribution figures show the balance from the two sides of the budget by deducting total receipts from the gross contribution for each member state. A minus sign therefore indicates that a member state received more from the budget in 1995 than it paid.
Comparable information from the European Court of Auditors relating to 1996 will not be available until November 1997. The figure for the UK's net contribution for 1996 is therefore the Treasury's most recent forecast. This calculation is not directly comparable with that of the European Court of Auditors, but the Government are confident that the UK's net contribution in 1996 will be considerably lower than in 1995 as we recover excess payments relating to the 1995 underspend.
Net contributions to the EU Budget in 1995 Millions of ecu £ million Belgium 311 255 Denmark -306 -251 Germany 13,431 10,999 Greece -3,489 -2,857 Spain -7,218 -5,911 France 1,727 1,414 Ireland -1,887 -1,545 Italy 614 503 Luxembourg 45 37 Netherlands 2,005 1,642 Austria 905 741 Portugal -2,381 -1,950 Finland 165 135 Sweden 937 767 UK (1995) 4,720 3,865 UK (1996) 1,892 1,603 Notes:
1. These figures are net of the UK's abatement.
2. Exchange rates used are 1.2211 ecu/£ for 1995 and 1.1803 ecu/E for 1996.
3. These figures can only be indicative of net contributions because the Court of Auditors does not allocate all Community spending by member state. In particular, administrative spending is not fully attributed.
4. Net contributions can vary significantly from year to year owing to adjustments in Own Resource payments and fluctuations in receipts. The UK's net contribution in 1995 was high because the Community Budget underspent in that year, leading to lower UK receipts than expected. The UK abatement in 1995 was also relatively lower than on average.
Source:
European Court of Auditors (UK 1996 figure HM Treasury, Cm 3350)