§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Blackstone on 9 February (WA 148), how much money the European Commission has spent and has budgeted to spend worldwide, and over what period of time—
and how much of these sums refers to expenditure in the United Kingdom. [HL862]183WA
- (a) disseminating information about the European Union; and
- (b) publishing and distributing materials intended for use in schools and other educational institutions;
§ The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Baroness Blackstone)The information is not available in the form requested. Chapter 34 of the General Budget of the European Union for the financial year 1998 makes provision for European Commission expenditure of 1.29 million ecu (approximately £0.834 million) on publications this year, compared with 1.34 million ecu (£0.887 million) in 1997 and 1.694 million ecu (£1.12 million) in 1996. In some cases, other appropriations may also be used in whole or in part for information-related activities. Details of how much, if any, of this expenditure relates to materials for use in schools and other educational institutions and how much to materials distributed in the United Kingdom are not available to Her Majesty's Government.