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Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's forecasts are for the (a) UK rebate and the (b) net UK contribution to the EU under (i) the original Commission proposal for the next budget period and (ii) the Luxembourg Presidency proposal for the next budget period. [15738]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: As the Prime Minister pointed out in his statement to the House on 20 June 2005, Official Report, columns 52325, the Luxembourg Presidency proposal would have cost the UK €25 billion over the period of the next Financial Perspective. This estimate was calculated on the basis of European Commission figures. The Government's most recent forecast of the UK abatement and net contributions to the EC Budget, covering the period to 200708, is given in Table 3.2 (page 15) of the annual European Community Finances" White Paper (Cm 6580) published on 23 June 2005. These forecasts are based on the current Financial Perspective, which runs to December 2006. For the period from January 2007, we simply up-rate the present arrangements to allow for inflation for public expenditure planning purposes. This in no way implies any assumption by the Government as to what the outcome of the ongoing Financial Perspective negotiations might be.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the statistical robustness of the methods used by Eurostat to estimate and allocate extra-regio shares of off-shore GDP. [15739]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Graham Brady, dated 10 October 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what assessment has been made of the statistical robustness of the methods used by Eurostat to estimate and allocate extra-regio shares of off-shore GDP. (15739)
In 2001, the Office for National Statistics, along with 5 other EU Member States, participated in a Task Force set up by Eurostat to review a number of quality issues concerning Regional Accounts. The Task Force recommended that extra-regio GDP should be shown as a distinct item in the accounts and that regional GDP per head figures should therefore exclude that part of GDP attributed to extra-regio. The ONS considers that the Task Force recommendation is easy to implement and makes statistical sense. Apart from the assessment of the Task Force, I am unaware of any other assessment specifically made of Eurostat's treatment of extra-regio shares of GDP.
Eurostat's current treatment of extra-regio GDP, however, does not comply with the Task Force's recommendation; they allocate estimates of extra-regio GDP to regions pro rata to their share of national GDP. The Office for National Statistics regards this treatment as inconsistent with the European System of Accounts (ESA) regulation of 1995 and the European Commission's NUTS regulation (2003). The latter regulation specifically identifies extra-regio as a separate statistical entity and therefore any relevant statistics should be shown separately.
I should say, to avoid any doubt, that there is no difference between the ONS and Eurostat regarding the method used to estimate extra-regio shares of GDP; the ONS in fact supplies Eurostat with extra-regio estimations based on the 1995 ESA regulation.
My predecessor wrote to the Director General of Eurostat earlier in the year to argue that the extra-regio component of GDP should not be allocated to the regions of the Member State, in keeping with the Task Force recommendation and the intention and spirit of the NUTS regulation.
They consider the most appropriate action is to review the issue in the longer term as part of a wide-ranging review of Regional Accounts. They have identified late 2006/early 2007 as the best opportunity to commence such work.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the implications of the inclusion of extra-regio shares of off-shore GDP in the current EU budget proposals for (a) the UK net contribution and (b) the UK rebate. [15748]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is not possible to quantify the impact of the inclusion of offshore extra regio GVA on the UK net contribution and the UK abatement because Eurostat does not publish the data required for such a calculation.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish his Department's forecasts or models showing contributions to and receipts from the EU for each of the member states which joined in 2004 under (a) the original Commission proposal for the next budget period and (b) the Luxembourg presidency proposal for the next budget period. [15749]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The publication of forecasts of the contributions and receipts of other member states is a matter for their respective Governments.
10 Oct 2005 : Column 284W
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment the Office of Government Commerce has made of the implementation of the EU Public Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC by other EU countries; and if he will make a statement. [15339]
John Healey: The Office of Government Commerce has not made any assessment of the implementation of the Public Procurement Directive in other EU countries. All member states have to take appropriate measures to implement the directive by 31 January 2006 in accordance with their own procedures.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 27th June 2005, Official Report, column 1291W, on the Public Procurement Directive, how many responses, including confidential responses, to the Office of Government Commerce Public Procurement Directive consultation specifically referred to Article 35 of the EU Procurement Directive; and how many of these responses called for (a) a derogation and (b) no derogation from Article 45 of the directive. [15497]
John Healey: Article 35 of the new Public Sector Procurement Directive (2004/18/EC) concerns notices and is not related to the derogation in Article 45 of that directive.
On Article 45, the Office of Government Commerce received 21 responses referring to this Article during its 2004 consultation. Of this total, which includes confidential responses, one called for the derogation to be implemented and two called for it not to be implemented. Following my answer on 27 June 2005, Official Report, column 1291W, copies of the responses to the consultation have been placed, except where confidentiality was requested, in the House Library. None of the three responses explicitly referring to implementation of the Article 45 derogation requested confidentiality.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with EU counterparts on arrangements countries wishing to leave the euro might adopt in terms of the currency they use. [15664]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: No such discussions have taken place. The terms of membership of the single currency for member states without a derogation are set out in Article 4 and Articles 116 through to 124 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequerwhat the total floor space area is of buildings owned and leased by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies. [15808]
John Healey:
The available information is set out in the table.
10 Oct 2005 : Column 285W
Department/Agency | Total m(91) |
---|---|
HMRC and VOA | (90)1,754,122 |
DMO | 1,700 |
ONS | 85,741 |
Royal Mint | 46,233 |
OGC | 13,625 |
GAD | 2,898 |
HMT | 31,200 |
NS&I | (91)113,125 |
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