§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the mandate of the Advisory Committee on the Community's own resources is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if he will list the items currently under its consideration; if he will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [58437]
§ Ruth KellyThe roles and responsibilities of the Advisory Committee on the Communities' Own Resources are set out in Articles 20 and 21 of Council Regulation (EC, EURATOM) No. 1150/2000.
During the past 12 months, the committee has met on five occasions (two for Traditional Own Resources, one for VAT, one for Forecasting and one for Audit). In accordance with Article 20 of Regulation No. 1150/2000, each member state shall be represented on the committee by no more than five officials. The UK is usually represented by one or two officials from HM Customs and Excise except in the case of the Forecasting meeting which is usually attended by two officials from HM Treasury and one from HM Customs and Excise.