§ Mr. WareingTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what individual exemptions have been given under article 85(3) of the treaty of Rome to Inntrepreneur Estates Ltd; and what notices, as required under article 19(3) of EC Regulation 17/62, have been issued in respect of that company's lease agreements.
§ Mr. Neil Hamilton[holding answer 12 July 1993]: I am advised that no individual exemptions under article 85 of the treaty of Rome have been given to Inntrepreneur Estates Ltd, nor has any notice been issued under article 19(3) of EC Regulation 17/62 in respect of the company's lease arrangements.
In my answer to the hon. Member on 15 June, Official Report, column 497, I said that the United Kingdom Government did not keep a record of individual exemptions under article 85 of the treaty of Rome and that such information could be obtained about the brewing 437W industry only at disproportionate cost. I regret that this information was not wholly accurate as information about EC Commission decisions on competition matters is held centrally by the Office of Fair Trading. However this information does not separately identify decisions constituting exemptions from article 85 of the treaty of Rome, nor does it separately identify decisions made in respect of particular business sectors.
It would not, therefore, be possible to provide a complete record of exemptions granted in relation to the brewing industry except at disproportionate cost, as stated in the answer I gave to the hon. Member previously. This is also the case for notices under article 19(3) of EC Regulation 17/62 in relation to the brewing industry as a whole.
§ Mr. WareingTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 5 July,Official Report, column 35, what sales outlets other than public houses were included in the figures given for on-trade beer sales.
§ Mr. Neil Hamilton[holding answer 12 July 1993]: The figures include on-sales in pubs, restaurants, cafe-bars and pub hotels.