Cars (Hansard, 12 January 1994)

§ 4. Mr. David Atkinson
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when the European single market will be opened up for cars.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs (Mr. Neil Hamilton)
The single market is complete in all essential respects, so goods manufactured in the Common Market have the right to circulate freely anywhere within it. Good progress has been made in removing obstacles to free trade in cars and car parts, but we shall continue to press the Commission to bring forward other necessary measures and to enforce existing measures to ensure that the theoretical principle of free movement is a practical reality.

§ Mr. Atkinson
Is my hon. Friend aware of the growing concern of British motor manufacturers that, in response to the recommendations made to his Department nearly three years ago by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, he is shortly to announce an end to restraints on the import of Japanese manufactured cars in advance of 1999, which was agreed by the Community? Will he confirm that Britain does not intend to opt out of the EC consensus on this issue?

§ Mr. Hamilton
I can say to my hon. Friend that that matter is under review and we will closely consult the interests that are most affected. I know of no evidence to show that either the Commission or the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry is moving in the direction that he asserts.

§ Mr. Roy Hughes
Does the Minister appreciate that a successful domestic car industry is to some extent dependent on an efficient steel industry? What are the Government doing about the unfair subsidies that are being paid to the steel industries in Germany, Italy and Spain? If that trend continues, it could lead to further redundancies in our steel industry.

§ Mr. Hamilton
I am glad that the hon. Gentleman recognises that, unlike in the 1970s, the United Kingdom now has a successful car industry. It is because of so many years of taking difficult decisions in the long-term interests of the steel industry that it is in the shape that it is in today. I agree that it would be intolerable if steel workers in this country were to be put out of work as a result of unfair state aids elsewhere in the Community. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Industry has been most vigorous in his activities in the Industry Council to ensure that close scrutiny is applied to all applications for state aids in other parts of the European Community to ensure that British steel workers are not disadvantaged as a result of unfair subsidy regimes.

§ Mr. Ian Bruce
Will my hon. Friend confirm that the British car industry, particularly Japanese owners of various British car manufacturers, are doing far better within the United Kingdom than they are doing at home in Japan? Why does he feel that the British car industry is doing so much better than our European, American and Japanese partners?

§ Mr. Hamilton
As I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware, British industry, particularly the car industry, has addressed what in the 1960s and 1970s were long-term strategic problems. Today in particular, because the labour relations record of the motor car industry is second to none, we produce products of top-quality design which represent good value for money and which therefore regularly make increased inroads in overseas markets.

§ Mr. Tony Banks
May I inform the Minister that, during the recess, I had a very pleasant holiday in Florida where, in order to save money, I shared a bed—with my wife. I would have saved a greater amount of money if I had bought a Ford car in America and imported it into this country. Why can the Japanese sell cars in the United States similar to models sold here, but charge people in the United States 50 per cent. less than people here have to pay? Why do our motor manufacturers rip off the British people? Is it because the motor manufacturers are far too powerful for the Government to address?

§ Mr. Hamilton
I am most impressed by the vigour of the hon. Gentleman's paean of praise for the capitalist economy of what I am sure he once regarded as the great Satan of the United States. I hope that he enjoyed his visit to Disneyworld. As a member of a Mickey Mouse party, I am sure that he would have felt quite at home.