To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the establishment of the Competition Commission. [801231

I am pleased to announce that the Competition Commission will be established on 1 April. The Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs made the relevant commencement and other necessary orders on 25 February and 2 March.The current Chairman of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, Dr. Derek Morris, will become the first Chairman of the Competition Commission.I am further pleased to announce, following consultation with my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor, the appointment of Judge Christopher Bellamy QC, currently British judge at the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in Luxembourg, as the first President of the Appeal Tribunals of the Competition Commission.