European Communities (Finance) Bill

The hon. Gentleman is being extremely nit-picking. I invite him to read the own resources decision, and to look at the table in it that spells out how the rebate will be retained on all agricultural spending, and on all spending in the EU 15. As I have described—it would be good if the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) read the decision before making his claims—it spells out how the rebate will be disapplied in respect of economic and structural spending in the new member states. That is how it affects the overall budget. Yes, there is an annual EU budget process, but it is informed by the own-resources decision, which the hon. Gentleman has clearly not bothered to read.