Mr. Patrick Rochford:

I should add that in terms of state aid modernisation and the various guidelines, the Commission is very much caught between austerity and stimulus. It sold state aid modernisation as a simplification process. In respect of regional aid, if the Directorate General for Competition had got its way, it would have driven it through ECOFIN rather than the Competitiveness Council. There is a much greater propensity in ECOFIN to narrow the thing down, query why aid is being given to large companies and argue that they can provide their own access to finance. There is a real philosophical debate in terms of whether we are really looking towards growth or looking after our own finances. One is caught between the two sometimes.