§ Mr. Quentin DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of his decision to finance the Royal Navy's requirement for roll on/roll off ferries by means of a public private partnership, on the protection of the relevant contracts from the Public Procurement Directive available to military procurement contracts under the Treaty of European Union. [118663]
§ Mr. HoonThe Ministry of Defence's requirement for a strategic sealift capability is defined as non-warlike and ships providing the service will not be warships. Rather, they will be commercial standard ro/ros. The competition for the requirement has, therefore, to be conducted under European Community and World Trade Organisation public procurement rules. In such circumstances, a MOD requirement that stipulates that service providers or suppliers provide British built ships would be contrary to our EC obligations prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of nationality.
The requirement to compete in this way is not, therefore, influenced by whether the service is provided through PFI or more traditional procurement methods. We are, of course, doing all we can within the bounds of fair competition to give UK industry the best opportunity to participate in the programme.