§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's role in discussions relating to the creation of a unified Europe-wide defence and aerospace company. [52122]
§ Mr. SpellarIt is for the companies themselves to determine the future structure of the European aerospace and defence industry. Government's role is to facilitate the process. With this objective, the Ministers of Defence of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden signed on 6 July a Letter of Intent which sets out an approach to removing a number of practical obstacles to restructuring in a number of areas.