§ Mr. RadiceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the net payments made to the European Union budget by the 12 member states in 1994, on a per capita basis. [20464]
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe table sets out the figures. These are drawn from the European Court of Auditors' calculations of member states' total financial contributions to and receipts from the European budget published in the "Annual Report covering the financial year 1994". Net payments 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 receives more from the EU budget than it pays.
The figures for net payments can only be indicative because the Court of Auditors does not allocate all Community spending by member states. In particular, administrative spending in Belgium is not fully attributed. In addition, net payments can vary significantly from year to year owing to adjustments in own resource payments and fluctuations in receipts.
The Commission has committed itself to provide a detailed breakdown of member states' receipts from the Community budget on an annual basis once the new own resources decision comes into force. This, together with Commission figures on member states' gross contributions, should help provide us with more information about member states' net payments.
688W
Net payments to the EU budget in 1994 (in ecu per head) Germany 167.7 Netherlands 119.6 France 45.4 Italy 44.5 Belgium 30.6 UK 19.9 Denmark -38.2 Spain -79.7 Portugal -184.5 Greece -370.4 Ireland -486.7 Luxembourg -634.3 These figures are net of the UK's abatement.