§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the various ways and methods used by individual Governments of the European Economic Community that amount to national aids to their particular country and which contravene article 92 of the Treaty of Rome; and what methods he has used to counter such methods that adversely affect home agriculture.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithIn general, State aids are incompatible with Community rules if they distort competition in intra-Community trade. The Commission is responsible for deciding whether or not this is the case and it operates by reference to criteria laid down both formally, for example in regulations, and informally. It is therefore not possible to make a general statement on factors which may make particular aids incompatible. Where we have reason to think that this is true of an aid and that it damages our farmers, we have pursued the matter with the Commission as a matter of urgency.