§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the dates of(a) explanatory memoranda presented to Parliament by the Government and (b) agreements in the Council of Ministers concerning the Community Framework for state aid to the motor vehicle industry, OJ No. C279, 1997; and what application has been made within the specification of the Framework to the Commission by Her Majesty's Government in respect of the Longbridge plant. [118922]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonNeither an explanatory memorandum or Council agreement exist for the motor vehicles framework. Frameworks are produced by the Commission without reference to the Council, as they (the Commission) have sole competence on the state aid rules and their interpretation.
Conforming to the requirements of the Community Framework for state aid to the motor vehicle industry, HMG formally notified the £152 million Longbridge package to the European Commission 20 August 1999. The clearance process by the Commission was still on-going at the time of BMW's decision to divest itself of elements of the Rover Group (including Longbridge).