§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the United Kingdom's net contribution to the European Union for 1995–96; and what factors underlie the discrepancies between this figure and the estimate of the European Union Court of Auditors. [10234]
§ Mr. Oppenheim[holding answer 13 January 1997]: The Treasury estimates the United Kingdom's net contribution to the European Community budget in the financial year 1995–96 to be £3,852 million. However, since this figure relates to a UK financial year while the European Court of Auditors' report provides calendar year data, the two are not directly comparable. The Treasury estimate of our net contribution to the European Community in the calendar year 1995 is £4,017 million. This compares with the figure of £3,866 million in the Court of Auditors report—assuming an exchange rate of £1=1.2211 ecu. One of the main reasons for the difference is that the Court of Auditors' figures include payments by the Community direct to the UK private sector which are not to be taken into account in the Treasury's estimate which relates to UK public sector transactions. There may also have been differences in the years to which particular public sector transactions near to year-end were scored. A fuller explanation of the differences between the two figures will be included in the Government's White Paper statement on the 1997 EC Budget.