§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many mergers she has referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission against the advice of the Director-General of Fair Trading since May 1997; what representations she has received on this issue from United Kingdom financial institutions or businesses; and if she will make it her policy to state in full her reasons for all decisions taken against Office of Fair Trading advice. [43201]
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsBetween 1 May 1997 and 21 May 1998 my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade disagreed with the Director-General of Fair Trading's ("DGFT' s") advice on whether or not to refer a merger to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission ("MMC") on just three cases out of 189. These were National Express Group ("NEG")/Central Trains, NEG/ScotRail and PacifiCorp/The Energy Group.
In each case, the President or the DGFT received representations from competitors, customers or other third parties both for and against reference to the MMC.
On each occasion, the Department's announcement referred explicitly to the President's disagreement with the DGFT' s advice. It is our intention to continue this practice. The President has made it clear that it is her policy to make references primarily on competition grounds. Where other public interest considerations lead to an MMC reference against the advice of the DGFT, this will be made clear in the announcement, as was done when PacifiCorp/The Energy Group was referred.