§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what new proposals for the deregulation of car sales dealing the European Commission has made; and what is the United Kingdom Government's policy on those proposals.
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe European Commission has put a number of proposals to member states to renew and amend Commission regulation 123/85, which governs the selective and exclusive dealership agreements for motor vehicles. These proposals would prohibit a number of restrictions on competition which are permissible under the current regulation in order to increase the competition in the trade. They would, in particular, provide dealers with the opportunity to sell more than one make of vehicle on sites which were separate and distinct. Restrictions on dealers advertising outside their contract territory would be prohibited. Dealers would also be permitted to purchase spare parts from any source, provided that they were of equivalent quality.
The Government welcome these proposals, which are in many respects similar to the recommendations contained in the 1992 Monopolies and Mergers Commission report. Member states have put their views on the draft to the Commission, which will consider whether to amend the text before publishing the draft for public consultation shortly.