§ Lord O'Haganasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the criteria by which they judge whether or not to support applications for grants from the European Community in cases where grants do not have to be matched by the national government concerned; and
Whether in all cases they refrain from supporting grant applications to the European Community unless those applications are from local authorities; and
What assistance they provide to applicants from the private sector seeking grants from the European Community; and
Whether they consider themselves to be obliged to assist applicants for grants from the European Community in the same way that they assist firms seeking contacts overseas.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Trefgarne)As with export promotion, there is no single criterion used with regard to deciding HMG's input into applications for EC grants, whether from firms, local authorities or other bodies. The involvement of government depends largely on the rules of individual schemes. For instance, applications to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) have to come through HMG while those concerning the EC R&D Framework Programme are made direct to the Commission. HMG's response is therefore determined by these factors.