§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Energy Bill has been notified to the European Commission. [149620]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Energy Bill is a public document. There is no requirement to notify the Energy Bill as such to the European Commission. In accordance with Article 88(3) of the European Treaty establishing the European Community, the Government notified to the Commission on 19 December 2003 the state aid that would be involved in the funding of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) under the Bill.
Chapter 2 of Part 3 of the Energy Bill will implement Directives 2003/54/EC and 2003/55/EC and we shall be notifying the commission when the relevant clauses come into force.
We shall consider whether we need to notify to the commission of the changes arising from the introduction of the Renewable Obligation in Northern Ireland, planned for 1 April 2005.