§ 14. Sir Sydney Chapman (Chipping Barnet)If he will make a statement on the European security and defence policy. [135557]
§ The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon)On Monday 27 October, I set out the Government's detailed position on the European security and defence policy, when the House debated NATO and European defence policy.
For the European Union to play its full part in international affairs, it must have the capacity to support its common foreign and security policy objectives with an effective European security and defence policy, including the ability to undertake operations where NATO as a whole is not engaged. That involves European nations developing effective and deployable military capabilities both to undertake the full range of the Petersberg tasks and as a contribution to strengthening NATO.
§ Sir Sydney ChapmanPrecisely—that is what the Secretary of State said in the debate last week. As it is now almost five years since the St. Malo declaration, which spawned the European security and defence policy, will the Secretary of State say which European country has increased its defence expenditure; or is it more likely that none has?
§ Mr. HoonI can assure the hon. Gentleman that the United Kingdom has, and that is the responsibility that I have. I am grateful to him for indicating that the Government have been consistent on this issue, and it is right that I should take this opportunity to congratulate the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) on his consistency: he has been consistently opposed to any 531 kind of European defence co-operation. Indeed, if I understand the position correctly, the price of success for the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) is that the hon. Gentleman will soon be looking for new responsibilities.