I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 76 together.
The Competition and Mergers Review Group, established by my predecessor, published a discussion document on the newspaper sector in March 1999 and invited comments on its document by 30 April 1999. I asked the group to take account of, and advise me on, how best to implement certain recommendations of the Commission on the Newspaper Industry dealing with competition issues. These CNI recommendations concern the factors to be considered in regulating changes of ownership of newspapers, an amendment to merger law to enable consideration to be given to the acquisition of control over newspapers by means other than the acquisition of shares and the consideration of the issue of concentration of ownership on a media-wide as well as on a single media basis.
This issue forms but one part of the overall and broad ranging work of the review group. In July 1998 the review group published a discussion document on mergers law generally and work continues on its wider consideration of competition policy. In September 1999 the review group published a discussion document on competition law and invited comments by 18 October 1999. When the review group has assimilated and considered all the comments of the public and interested parties, the chairman expects to submit its final report and recommendations to me, covering all these matters, by the end of this year.