Mr. Philip Kermode:

In the context of the state aid investigations what matters is the affects. One of issues we have been pursuing over the past few years and, again, in the context of discussions in the group, is the need to ensure a degree of transparency in tax rulings and for a number of reasons. First, to ensure that treatment is fair and second to ensure that jurisdictions are aware of rulings given to companies which might have an affect on them. This could be positive or negative. This raises the question of whether rulings should be made public, although not, perhaps, the full detail, so that people know what has been given. What is problematic in the case of a ruling is a ruling that is confidential and actually infringes the legislation of the country in question. That would be a genuine problem.