§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for South-West Devon (Mr. Streeter) of 7 April 1998,Official Report, column 203, on the European Communities Budget, if he will estimate the United Kingdom share of the funding for the European Women's lobby for 1997; and if he will make a statement on his Department's policy towards the funding by the Commission of lobby groups. [45314]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonThe UK contributes to the EU budget as a whole, rather than to individual budget lines. Our share of total contributions to the budget in 1997 was 11.61% (after the abatement). The Government recognise that the Commission uses a proportion of its administrative budget to fund certain NGOs involved in the implementation of Community policies. Our policy on all EU spending is that it should be subject to the same principles of rigour and cost-effectiveness as we apply to the UK budget.