asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) what studies he is making of the legal machinery necessary to ensure British participation in supranational companies being suggested by the Common Market Commission;(2) what steps he is taking to prepare for British inclusion in the consultations proposed by the European Economic Commission on facilitating the formation of European-incorporated companies.

Until the Member-States of the Community have studied the Commission's proposal to provide for European-incorporated companies, we do not know whether there will be discussions in which H.M. Government might take part, or what legal machinery, necessary to secure British participation in such companies, might need to be studied.