§ Sir Julian Ridsdaleasked the Secretary of State for Transport what are the implications of the financial help given by the Governments of some member states to their ports for European competition policy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MooreThe last detailed study of this question was carried out between 1977 and 1980 by the European Commission with a working group of experts from major Community ports. The majority concluson was that differences between the financial regimes of ports did not seem capable of provoking serious distortions of competition. The study needs to be reviewed and the Commission has started by updating the factual background to it.
§ Sir Julian Ridsdaleasked the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made to ensure fair competition between ports within the European Community.
§ Mr. MooreFinancial assistance to ports is subject to the state aids provisions of the EEC Treaty (Articles 92 and 93) and financial relations between public authorities and public port undertakings are covered by the provisions of the transparency directive. The Commission has sufficient powers to deal with distortions of competition resulting from financial assistance.