Memorandum from Thales UK
UK-UK TRADE COOPERATION
TREATY
I am writing to you to make.a point about the
implementation arrangements for this treaty, about which the House
of Commons Defence Committee took evidence in their session on
21 November.
It is not absolutely clear what role foreign
ownership will play in defining which companies may be members
of the "approved community". If a company meets the
criteria for List X status in the UK, and is trusted by HMG to
be a supplier of sensitive defence items, then foreign ownership
should not be a bar. MoD officials have given verbal assurances
on this point but it needs to be clarified.
If companies which are an established part of
the UK industrial base were to be excluded, this would not only
be regrettable in its own right but would hinder cooperation with
other companies, within the "approved community", whom
they supply or with whom they cooperate.
I am copying this to Michael O'Connor, Assistant
Secretary of the Defence Industries Council
3 December 2007
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