§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the admissibility of state aid to the power generation industry under EU regulations; and what recent consultations she has had on this issue. [88048]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 19 December 2002]: State aid may be paid to the power generation industry, subject to commission approval and consistency with the terms of the EC treaty, under a number of horizontal frameworks and guidelines. These include the community guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty. My ministerial colleagues and I have been in contact with the European Commission and others about the rescue aid recently granted to British Energy, which was approved by the commission on 27 November.