I propose to answer Oral Question No. 30 and written Question No. 44 together.
I am not aware of any new proposal on the part of the EC Commission that the maximum price differential between member states in the price of motor cars should be 12 per cent.
The EC Commission issued guidelines on this matter in 1985. These guidelines, in the form of a Commission notice, related to Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 123/85 of 12 December 1984. This Regulation provides for a block exemption of certain agreements in relation to motor vehicle distribution and servicing from the provisions of Article 85 of the Treaty of Rome. The Regulation entered into force on 1 July 1985 and expires on 30 June 1995.
At the request of certain sectors involved and as a guideline to the Regulation, the Commission published a notice in January 1985 which set out some of the conditions by which agreements would be assessed.
In the notice the Commission indicated that, for the time being, certain circumstances would not of themselves justify an investigation of whether an agreement exempted by Regulation (EEC) No. 123/85 is incompatible with the conditions of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty. One of those circumstances would be where recommended net prices for sales to private consumers of a motor vehicle in one Member State and of the same or a corresponding motor vehicle in another Member State differed by not more than 12 per cent.