Letter: Cuts to the EC budget

Sir: The Council of Ministers of the EC, when drawing up the draft budget for 1994 this week, has made significant cuts to the Commission's proposals in a number of areas, as one would expect. They have made cuts in research, in consumer protection, in transport infrastructure and a host of other things that would benefit the people of Europe and Europe's economy.

When it comes to agriculture, however, out of a budget of pounds 36bn ecu, the only cut they made was to the Anti Fraud Unit, where they have taken pounds 25m ecu away, which is 20 per cent of that budget line.

This was done on the insistence of the British Government at a time when agriculture fraud is never far from the headlines. One needs to ask HMG, does this really make sense?

Yours faithfully,

TERRY WYNN

MEP for Merseyside East (Lab)

European Office

Merseyside

21 July