asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which countries in the European Economic Community, other than the United Kingdom, do not impose an upper limit for headage payments under any arrangement comparable to the hill livestock compensatory allowance scheme.

All EC member states, with the exception of Denmark which has no designated less favoured areas, pay allowances corresponding to the United Kingdom's hill livestock compensatory allowances under national schemes. These payments are governed by EC statutory provisions, which include a maximum permitted payment per hectare and per livestock unit and limits per holding in respect of dairy cows. We understand from the European Commission that Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain have opted to apply ceilings per holding in addition to the mandatory limits.