§ Lord Moynihanasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the principal concerns of the European Commission regarding the sale of the Tote to a racing trust; on what date these concerns were brought to the attention of the Government in writing; and what the Government's response to them was. [HL4844]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey)We have notified the European Commission of our plans for the sale of the Tote to the Racing Trust (28 October 2004,Official Report, WA 149) and met with them in September as planned (14 September 2004, Official Report, col. 1043). The Government cannot divulge any detail of the continuing discussions with the Commission until its views are published, since such discussions are 206WA confidential. In terms of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, exemptions 1, 2 and 14 apply as: disclosure at this stage might harm relations with the Commission (exemption 1); the discussions are internal ones with a regulator (exemption 2); and the Commission has given its initial views in confidence and not consented to their disclosure (exemption 14). In due course, the Commission will publish its formal views.