§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
How much the European Union will pay Mauritania in compensation as part of the recent fisheries agreement, and what part of that expense will be borne by the United Kingdom.
Lord LucasThe European Commission calculates that the agreement with Mauritania will cost a total of 272,050,000 ecu (approximately £220,891,523). This is made up of 266,800,000 ecu payable over a period of five years for the fishing opportunities made available,84WA 3,000,000 ecu to reinforce sanitary controls and support fisheries research in Mauritania, 1,250,000 ecu to support maritime training in Mauritania and 1,000,000 ecu to assist the Mauritanian ministry in covering the costs of attendance at seminars and international meetings. The United Kingdom contribution to this expenditure will be around 14 per cent.