§ Sir David PriceTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking in the Council of Ministers to ensure that there is a level playing field within the European Community in respect of merchant shipping, and that other member Governments abandon their fiscal preferences to their own ships.
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§ Mr. PortilloWe press at every opportunity for the liberalisation of shipping cabotage. Substantive discussions are scheduled for the June Transport Council. We are still waiting for the Commission to produce proposals on the harmonisation of state aids and ways of improving the competitiveness of Community fleets. In the meantime we have registered with the Commission our strong opposition to any preferential treatment for intra-Community shipping.
§ Sir David PriceTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current size of the United Kingdom-owned trading fleet; how it is distributed between mainland United Kingdom registration, Crown dependencies, dependent territories and foreign registration; and what were the comparable figures in 1979.
§ Mr. PortilloThe following table gives the information requested for vessels of 500 gross registered tons and over at 31 December 1988.
United Kingdom-owned trading vessels (500 grt and over) at 31 December 1988 Registered in: Number (GRT) (DWT) million million United Kingdom 350 4.3 5.4 Crown dependencies 87 1.8 3.2 Dependent territories 91 3.3 6.0 Foreign countries 93 1.2 1.9 Total 621 10.6 16.5 The comparable figures for vessels registered in the United Kingdom or Crown dependencies at 31 December 1987 were 1,194 vessels (22.5 million grt and 35.7 million dwt). Information is not available for 1979 for Crown dependencies separately or for dependent territory and foreign registered United Kingdom-owned ships.