§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the EEC directive of July 1978 relating to the public advertising of tenders within the EEC for textiles whose value exceeds £130,000, and indicate the number of occasions on which advertisements have been made by each EEC country since that date.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettI have been asked to reply.
The EEC second supplies directive came into force on 1st July 1978. It introduced common procedures for advertising and awarding central and local Government supplies contracts. In the period to 15th November, only the United Kingdom (5) and Denmark (2) have placed advertisements for textiles. This imbalance reflects the unsatisfactory position generally on advertising under the directive on which, as I said in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Chester-le-Street (Mr. Radice) on 10th November, we are taking action.