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European Structural Funds
13. Mr. Andrew George: What progress is being made in the designation of United Kingdom regions for the latest round of European objective 1 aid. [15402]
Mrs. Roche: On 16 July, the European Commission published some suggestions for the future of structural funds after 1999 in its communication "Agenda 2000". We expect the Commission to publish detailed proposals next year, which will then need to be negotiated in the Council of Ministers and approved by the European Parliament. The final regulations will determine how individual regions and areas become eligible for structural funds.
Mr. George: I thank the Minister for that helpful reply. What assurances can she give the people of Cornwall and other regions with economic and structural difficulties that negotiations on the designation of NUTS--nomenclature of units for territorial statistics--level II regions will be brought to a speedy conclusion? Is she prepared to prioritise potential objective 1 regions on the basis of need? Is she prepared to recognise that the future of economies such as Cornwall's, which has suffered a great deal, very much depends on a speedy and effective conclusion to the negotiations?
Mrs. Roche: I recognise the hon. Gentleman's concern and I recognise that Cornwall, like many other UK areas, faces specific economic and social issues. The Government's statistical service examined United Kingdom boundaries used for European regional statistics because of recent local government changes and made
proposals to Eurostat for changes during the summer. One proposal was to separate Cornwall from Devon at NUTS II level. The Government's statistical service is still in discussion with Eurostat. The hon. Gentleman will also be interested to know that the United Kingdom is pushing the Commission to take into account gross domestic product in assessing eligibility for structural funds.
Mr. O'Neill: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the clarity with which she has expressed the Government's concerns. Will she go beyond the issue of the map and tell us whether there is any prospect of the sums involved in attracting industries into the United Kingdom being reviewed? I understand that they have not been looked at since the 1980s. It has been suggested that the figures--£17,000 for objective 1 areas and £6,000 for objective 2 areas--are out of date and put us at a disadvantage compared with other parts of the European Union. Will the Minister look at the sums involved, as well as the map, because they are important in influencing where companies invest?
Mrs. Roche: I assure my hon. Friend that the United Kingdom is looking for fairness and equality in the process. We also want to ensure that the procedures are as fair and as simple as possible so that there can be a clear understanding of the policies.
Competition
14. Mr. Hanson: What measures her Department is taking to promote competition. [15403]
The Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs (Mr. Nigel Griffiths): The Government's commitment to competition is demonstrated by the introduction of the competition Bill, with new laws to focus on genuinely anti-competitive behaviour. It will remove the current bureaucratic laws on cartels. The Confederation of British Industry has welcomed our broad approach.
Mr. Hanson: Does my hon. Friend agree that the competition Bill will ensure that companies that face anti-competitive behaviour will have a stronger hand in tackling the problem? Will he confirm that the Bill will bring us into line with our European partners? What do consumer groups feel about the Bill? I am sure that they, too, will welcome it.
Mr. Griffiths: I can give my hon. Friend the assurance that he seeks. We have received more than 160 responses to our consultation document. Our approach has attracted broad support across the spectrum from businesses, from consumer organisations and from competition practitioners. The Bill will create the right conditions for the success of British businesses in the global marketplace.
Mr. Bercow: Will the Minister give the House a guarantee that he will protect local pubs, petrol stations and newsagents from the threat to their trading that the competition Bill poses?
Mr. Griffiths: I think that we all noted that a note was passed to the hon. Gentleman by the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood). The hon. Gentleman would have done well to have read the Bill and followed its proceedings in the Lords. If he had, he would know that he has just raised a red herring.
Mr. Griffiths: I am answering. This is part of the clear smear that the Conservatives have mounted to frighten small businesses and others. There is no truth in his allegation.
Mr. Prosser: I welcome yesterday's announcement by the President of the Board of Trade of the decision to allow the setting up of a merged ferry company, which will provide better opportunities for ferries sailing from my home port of Dover to compete with the channel tunnel. Is my hon. Friend aware that, if the proposals had been rejected, it would have caused far more redundancies than the 1,000 faced by my constituents? Does he understand the anger felt by people in Dover when they see a bankrupt channel tunnel, with £8 billion-worth of debt around its neck, continuing to steal trade from the successful ferry fleet and destroy jobs in Dover?
Mr. Griffiths: I shall of course pass my hon. Friend's welcoming comments to my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.
Mr. Breed: Will the Minister consider introducing measures similar to those in other European countries which would prevent retailers from selling their goods below a certain level in order to protect and enforce fair competition?
Mr. Griffiths: We have no plans at the moment to introduce such measures. We are guided by the key principle that competition should be fair and should be seen to be fair.
Mr. Gardiner: I am grateful for my hon. Friend's remarks about promoting competition, and especially about the way in which small and medium-sized enterprises should be supported as opposed to larger public companies. Will he investigate a contract which I understand is being tendered this week for the DTI export sales leads service? Will he particularly examine the way in which his Department has dealt with the Cequel Link consortium in my constituency, which has tendered for the project but seems to have been met on most occasions by civil servants who were keen to question the capacity of a consortium comprising small and medium-sized enterprises to run the service, rather than to consider the substantive nature of the positive aspects of the bid? This is an extremely important matter to my constituency.
Mr. Griffiths: I have listened with care to my hon. Friend. My colleagues and I will certainly give careful consideration to any further evidence that he cares to submit.
Mrs. Gillan: Given that when considering competition issues the President of the Board of Trade should listen
to all sides of the case before reaching a conclusion, why did the Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs tell the Sunday Mirror on 31 August that he was going to slash the prices of electrical goods more than two weeks before the consultation period on electrical retailing was completed, thereby prejudging any outcome? Has he not totally undermined the President's obligation impartially to consider all representations on competition matters and totally destroyed the industry's confidence in that impartiality? The Minister has already stood aside from three competition inquiries. Will he now stand down from all competition matters to save any further embarrassment?
Mr. Griffiths: It is a shame that we spend a great deal of time ensuring that the hon. Lady gets copies of DTI press releases. If she had read my right hon. Friend's welcoming comments about the inquiry, she would know that the usual procedures were followed in full and that my right hon. Friend will be considering the matter objectively, as ever. It was interesting to note that the hon. Lady contacted officials at the Department of Trade and Industry twice this week to find out how the procedures worked. I should have thought that someone of her experience--a senior Front-Bench spokesperson--would have known that. Perhaps she should come in for a seminar. I offer her the opportunity.
Exporters
15. Ms Keeble: What measures her Department is taking to support British exporters. [15405]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths: As well as the measures that my hon. Friend the Minister for Small Firms, Trade and Industry described earlier, the Department of Trade and Industry sponsors the overseas trade services, export development counsellors and a range of other pro-business measures.
Ms Keeble: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. What is he doing to encourage small firms, especially those that do not currently export--which includes about 85 per cent. of the firms in Northamptonshire? Is he prepared to encourage closer links between the overseas trade services of the Department and business links, which have become well established in Northamptonshire and had some success in gaining export orders?
Mr. Griffiths: My hon. Friend is an ambassador for business links. The Department of Trade and Industry has funded export counsellors and 75 are in place in business links. The one in Northamptonshire works with a strong international team and benefits from invaluable expertise from the chamber of commerce.
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