§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Industry if, in view of the public assistance given to the textile industry in other European Economic Community countries, he will take steps to grant additional financial aid to the British textile industry or seek to equalise public assistance to the textile industries in European Economic Community member States.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe British textile industry already receives financial aid under existing schemes operated by this Department. There are no plans to introduce any sectoral schemes to assist the industry.
It is the responsibility of the European Commission to judge whether schemes of assistance are compatible with the state aid provisions of the Treaty of Rome. In this respect, my right hon. Friend has recently urged the Commission to stop the upward spiral of State aids in the Community and to reconsider the effectiveness of the existing machinery for controlling aids in the textile sector.