§ Mr. Charles KennedyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on progress in respect of the Barmac N166 site objective 1 application. [34833]
§ Mr. EggarThe approval of the European Commission is required under the terms of the seventh shipbuilding directive for public investment in Barmac's project as presently constituted.
Since the end of February, there have been a number of discussions and meetings between the company, officials of the Scottish Office and those of my shipbuilding unit and oil and gas project supplies office. An informal meeting was held on 13 June between those DTI officials and those of the European Commission's directorate general IV responsible for interpreting and enforcing the seventh shipbuilding directive, at which the Commission asked for clarification of certain issues before approval of the grant could be considered.
A further meeting was held between the company and my officials on 24 June to review the progress of its application, the information requested by the Commission and the options open to Barmac.